I have decided that it is in the best interest of maintaining public health to close restaurants, bars, food courts, gyms, and other venues where groups of people congregate through the end of the month, effective 8pm this evening.

I am joined by @CityofPhoenixAZ in this effort

— Regina Romero (@TucsonRomero) March 17, 2020

More details:

This order only applies to dine-in services, not delivery/ take-out. More details to follow. https://t.co/hcL9qSiwUL

— Regina Romero (@TucsonRomero) March 17, 2020

Release from Mayor Romero:

Mayor Romero Declares Local Emergency

Mayor Romero made the following statement declaring a local emergency and announcing a new set of actions the City of Tucson will be taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and preserve public health:
“This morning, after consulting with business stakeholders, the City Attorney, and City Manager, I have made the determination that it is in the best interest of maintaining public health to suspend dine-in services in restaurants and food courts, and transition to delivery/pick-up only services. Bars, gyms, and other specific venues stated in the proclamation where groups of people congregate are directed to be closed through the end of the month.”

In a statement made today, the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona have revealed their response to COVID-19 in the form of Virtual Girl Scouts. Starting Wednesday the site will be updated with activities for girls to do on their own.

See the release below:

This afternoon, Gov. Doug Ducey convened with state health officials and private sector healthcare workers to provide an update on the scope of the COVID-19 virus outbreak in the State of Arizona.

As of 9 a.m. this morning, Arizona has 18 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and zero deaths associated with it.

"There are a lot of questions about getting tested for COVID-19 and I want to provide you with the latest information about testing in Arizona," State Health Director Dr. Cara Crist said at the press conference in Phoenix. "There are now several private laboratories that can test for COVID-19, these labs include LabCorp, Sonora Quest, ARUP, Mayo Clinic and TGen."

Crist said all Coronavirus tests must be ordered by a healthcare provider. They are working with Banner Health to open new test collection sites very soon. More sites and information will be available later this week, and they will notify the public of these developments through their website, azdhs.gov, with daily updates posted at 9 a.m.

Despite the spread of COVID-19 in the community, Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary between remaining candidates Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard is still on in Pima County.

The primary—formally known as the presidential preference election—is open only to registered Democrats. Unlike other local, state and federal election, independents cannot cast a ballot.

The Republican and Libertarian parties canceled their presidential preference elections.

The majority of voters will cast their ballots by mail, but polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow.

If you need to vote today, you can do so in person at emergency voting centers at 240 N. Stone Avenue in downtown, 6550 S. Country Club Road on the southside or at 6920 E. Broadway Boulevard on the eastside.

Here's a release with more details from Pima County:

The Presidential Preference Election, to be held March 17 by Arizona’s Democratic Party, will have a reduced number of polling places by law. Check online or call the Pima County Recorder at (520) 724-4330 to find your voting place.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause closures of schools, businesses and other gathering events, hourly, tipped and low-income workers are increasingly in danger of losing their jobs, leaving them unable to pay bills for necessities like housing and utilities.

Recognizing this impending crisis, local community members have called on local and state governments to do whatever they can to prevent people from being evicted and losing their homes during the coronavirus outbreak.

In 2017, the last year that statistics were available, more than 13,000 evictions were filed in Pima County, the vast majority of them caused by non-payment of timely rent. Given how many Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, losing just two week's pay thanks to coronoavirus would be enough to throw them onto the streets.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman announced this afternoon that all Arizona public schools are closing at least through Friday, March 27.

Here's the press release from Ducey's office:

Governor Doug Ducey and Superintendent Kathy Hoffman today announced a statewide closure of Arizona schools from Monday, March 16, 2020 through Friday, March 27, 2020. Governor Ducey and Superintendent Hoffman will work with education officials and public health officials to reassess the need for the school closures and provide further guidance through March 27, 2020.

View Governor Ducey and Superintendent Hoffman’s open letter to Arizona families, educators, school leaders, and education community members HERE.

“Over the past few weeks and in coordination with public health officials, we have been in close communication with school administrators to provide guidance and be a resource as it relates to the recent outbreak of COVID-19,” said Governor Ducey. “As more schools announce closures and education administrators express staff shortages within their schools, now is the time to act. A statewide closure is the right thing to do. While this measure will not stop the spread of COVID-19, it will bring certainty and consistency in schools across Arizona.”

“The health and safety of all our students is our top priority, and we’ve worked hard to keep our school doors open — schools provide important services and many families rely on them for nutrition, access to health care and in order to do their own jobs,” said Superintendent Hoffman. “I am in close contact with school superintendents, teachers, and parents and will continue working closely in partnership with schools to ensure that our families needs are met.”

Pima County can expect a significant increase in COVID-19 cases within the next few weeks, according to Dr. Bob England, interim director for the Pima County Health Department. England's comments came hours after the third presumptive case was announced in the county, which he believes is the start of a communal spread of the virus.

"I suspect there are several intersections of people with mild illness, maybe people who don't even know they're sick at all, walking around in the community," Dr. England said. "That's why we're stressing so much about individual behavior about washing our hands and keeping our hands away from our face."

Today's case is the first in Arizona discovered by a commercial laboratory after Sonora Quest and LabCorp. were approved to begin screening for the virus in early March, said England. He hopeful the private labs will help give an accurate view as to how many COVID-19 cases the county is actually dealing with. Previously, testing was being done by state health officials, who have been working with narrow criteria for testing because for most of last week, they had only a few hundred test kits.

"Here's the point: The virus is probably circulating in the community already from person to person, causing illness that is mild enough that (don't meet the criteria for) getting tested," England said. "Having private labs available helps a lot because now it can be an individual's health care provider can decide whether or not you should be tested."

England said he does worry that even the third-party labs will eventually become overloaded due to the demand.

"I am worried that even with the private (lab's) aren't going to have the capacity to handle the demand if everybody wants to a whole lot of testing at once," England said.

The Pima County Health Department has announced that a third presumptive case of COVID-19 has been detected in Pima County. Details are scarce, but the older adult is hospitalized.

The press release:

The Pima County Health Department has identified a third (3rd) presumptive positive COVID-19 case. The individual is an older adult currently recovering in an area hospital. The Health Department immediately began an investigation to identify close contacts and recommend actions to prevent further spread. This case marks the first positive result in Pima County as a result of commercial testing performed by a private laboratory. A sample will also be sent to the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory for confirmation.

For updated case counts and more information about COVID-19, visit www.pima.gov/COVID19 or, for general information call (520) 626-6016 to speak with a health professional.

While downtown's Rialto Theatre said today it would continue with its upcoming shows, the Fox Tucson Theatre announced earlier today that it would suspend programming starting Monday, March 16, through Sunday, April 5.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to suspend public performances at the Fox beginning Monday, March 16th through Sunday, April 5th," a notice on the theatre's website notes. "At that time, we will reevaluate the situation and continue to work with our touring artist partners to determine if and when rescheduling is possible."

The Fox team also made an appeal for financial support to make up for the losses it will suffer without programming:

Now we must ask for your help. There are serious financial consequences to such a decision, with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. This is nothing compared to the risk of loss of human life. However, such extreme losses coming all at once could threaten the viability of the Fox in the near term. In the nonprofit arts industry, profit margins are slim and we invest roughly 90% of the cost of an event upfront, funds we cannot recover. When events are canceled, refunding the related ticket revenue results in a complete loss.

In this unprecedented and unexpected moment, we are asking our community to rally around us. While each ticket holder is typically entitled to a refund in those rare circumstances when events are canceled, in this atypical situation we respectfully ask our audiences to consider crowdsharing the financial impact of this pandemic on the Fox.

Please donate back the value of your purchase to support the Fox Tucson. If this approach does not feel right for you, as a second option, we ask you to consider accepting a credit toward a future Fox event. If you do require a refund, we understand and will be happy to accommodate.

These are going to be tough months for the performing arts community.

Here's the complete statement from the Fox Tucson Theatre:

Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred announced today that the league has decided to suspend Spring Training games, and delay the start of the regular season by at least two weeks “due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic.”

The decision was made after a call with all 30 clubs and a consultation with the players association. MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season. Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to Clubs in the coming days.

The 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tucson have also been postponed indefinitely.