The coronavirus is real and it is now everywhere. Research on how this terrible virus spreads is now clear and national and state news outlets have explained them to us over the past month plus well. If everyone takes this pandemic seriously and does what is necessary to keep not only themselves, but all of us around them safe, than most of us will not be significantly impacted by it.
I am proud of Mayor Coral Evans for her gutsy move early on relative to other communities in Arizona to shut down non-essential businesses and begin the process of convincing the greater Flagstaff community that this virus is real, not a hoax and it can and will kill many of us if we don’t take it very seriously. Mayor Evans was acting as a smart and caring leader and Flagstaff is in a much better place than it might have been because of her actions.
Yesterday’s announcement by Governor Doug Ducey was, from my perspective, a joke. Imposing a stay-at-home order that shuts down all non-essential businesses yet keeping open golf courses, gun stores, beauty parlors, and parks documents that he doesn’t yet understand the reality of this virus nor does he really care about the people of Arizona. This is anything but leadership and, frankly, is a disgrace to the State of Arizona and all of us living here. Governor Ducey would do well to follow the lead of Flagstaff’s Mayor Coral Evans in times such as this.
JONATHAN C. McINTIRE, PhD
Flagstaff
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