More than 60% disapprove of Ducey’s handling of pandemic, poll finds
Jul 24, 2020, 12:33 PM | Updated: 1:17 pm
(AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)
(AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)
PHOENIX — More than six out of 10 of Arizona residents disapprove of Gov. Doug Ducey’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to recent polling.
A SurveyMonkey poll released Sunday and obtained by Axios found that 62% of Arizonans do not approve of Ducey’s decisions during the pandemic.
Comparatively, 36% of Arizonans polled do approve of Ducey’s handling of the pandemic.
Arizona was one of four states with Republican governors — Texas, Florida and Georgia being the others — hard hit by coronavirus that were polled.
More than 16,000 Arizonans were polled, according to Axios.
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“We are not focused on polling. We are focused on managing this pandemic,” Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak told Axios.
The poll came the same week Ducey announced closures for gyms, bars, nightclubs, movie theaters and water parks would be extended in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“Now, people ask, ‘How do we come up with these venues for closure?’ and I want you to know this is the direct recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control,” he said during a press conference Thursday.
“So when you say your decisions are going to be guided by public health and not politics or what’s popular, you listen to public health, and the recommendation for these venues is closure.”
According to the Associated Press, the seven-day average for newly reported cases in Arizona fell to 2,618.71 on Thursday, the lowest point since June 22.
Arizona’s weekly positive rate for diagnostic PCR tests, which indicates how much the virus is spreading, is on pace to fall for the third consecutive week.
Arizona’s 20-day streak with at least 3,000 COVID-19 inpatients each day ended Wednesday, and on Thursday the number fell to its lowest point this month.
As of Friday morning, the state had documented pandemic totals of 156,301 COVID-19 cases and 3,142 deaths.
