Weekend wrap-up: Here are the biggest Arizona stories from May 8-10
May 10, 2020, 6:00 PM
PHOENIX – Arizona passes 11,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, a Valley mom is on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, MCSO makes two arrests for the sale and possession of fentanyl, restaurants receive guidelines to reopen on Monday and a 17-year-old is arrested for shooting a man.
Here are some stories that headlined the Arizona news cycle over the weekend.
Arizona surpasses 11,000 confirmed coronavirus cases
The Arizona health department reported 159 new coronavirus cases on Sunday morning, surpassing the 11,000-mark of total cases in the state.
Arizona now has 11,119 cases of COVID-19. With four additional positive deaths, the death toll increased to 536.
There have been 137,739 tests given in Arizona, according to the report, an increase of 8,799 from the previous day. The positive rate fell from 8% to 7.9%.
Valley mom on the frontlines of COVID-19: ‘This is where they need me’
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Veronica Aviila is a nurse at Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa where she’s been treating patients in the hospital’s COVID-19 unit since March.
Avila works 12-hour shifts three days a week. She’s constantly wearing personal protective equipment. She described having to “fully gown up from head to toe” every time she goes inside the room of a patient with COVID-19.
She said although it’s very tiring, she does it meticulously every time because she knows “with one slip up, you can potentially infect yourself.”
And with three kids and her 69-year-old mother living with her, the last thing she wants to happen is to get infected and bring the disease home.
Maricopa County releases food safety checklist for restaurants reopening
With restaurants reopening for dine-in services on Monday, Maricopa County Environmental Services has released a checklist for restaurants to follow when reopening their dining rooms.
“We have a re-opening checklist for restaurants that reminds operators to ensure hot and cold holding equipment is operational, food supplies are wholesome and have adequate supplies of soap, paper towels and disinfectant on hand,” said Darcy Kober, director of the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department.
Kober said restaurants should follow these guidelines as well as those that Gov. Doug Ducey’s office’s released this week. They include limiting parties to no more than 10 per table and avoiding instances where customers can serve their own food.
MCSO narcotics teams arrest 2 Valley men for sale, possession of fentanyl
The Maricopa County Drug Suppression Task Force and HIDTA Enforcement Action Team detectives made two fentanyl-related arrests across the Valley this week.
The first was 23-year-old Luis Hernandez, who was using social media to advertise and set up transaction locations, according to authorities.
The second arrest was made on Wednesday in collaboration with the Buckeye Police Department.
After witnessing the suspect, Jason Chambers, sell a customer fentanyl pills, detectives made a traffic stop in which the customer admitted to purchasing five fentanyl pills from Chambers, according to MCSO.
MCSO says that Chambers was found to be in possession of over 70 M30 fentanyl pills.
Tempe PD: 17-year-old male arrested after shooting man in face
A 17-year-old male was arrested on Friday night after allegedly shooting and killing a man in a parking lot, according to the Tempe Police Department.
The incident occurred near Scottsdale Road just south of the Loop 202 at approximately 5:15 p.m.
The victim, 22-year-old Joseph Delegge, witnessed the accident and located three of the five juveniles in a nearby parking lot, where he revealed to be in possession of a handgun and told the three juveniles to sit on the curb while he contacted police, according to authorities.
