Name: Biden slams Arizona's response to COVID-19 pandemic days after praise from Trump, Birx at White House
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Biden slams Arizona's response to COVID-19 pandemic days after praise from Trump, Birx at White House

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Arizona RepublicView CommentsPresumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden questioned&nbsp;recent praise&nbsp;of Arizona as a national leader in COVID-19 containment Friday, prompting a spirited retort from Gov. Doug Ducey.President Donald Trump and U.S.&nbsp;coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx&nbsp;had during the governor's visit to the White House on Wednesday.Trump called Arizona&nbsp;— a battleground state in the November election&nbsp;—&nbsp;"a model for other states in&nbsp;applying a science-based approach to the decreasing cases and hospitalizations without implementing a punishing lockdown," saying officials were "very proud" of Ducey's leadership.&nbsp;, contending Ducey was "rushing reopening without adequate testing and contact tracing" and "withholding support for increased testing and making local leaders plead for it." He also claimed the governor was "refusing to implement a mask mandate" and "turning his back on older Americans and those at greater risk."Biden criticized Arizona's infection and hospitalization rates, case and death counts, and test result delays, describing them as consequences of "the Trump-Ducey model."&nbsp;"The truth is that President Trump could have acted months ago to curb this pandemic — it's obvious he still hasn’t learned his lesson," he wrote. "He continues to ignore the warnings of health experts and we're all paying the price." using Biden's "Come on, man" catchphrase against him before telling him to "get out of your basement" and&nbsp;"get the facts on Arizona."&nbsp;The governor touted Arizona's decline in rates of positive test results, challenging Biden's assertion that the percentage still hovered at "nearly 20%" and saying "percent positivity (had dropped to) between 9-11% for the first time since May."He emphasized the 380-plus testing sites the state had&nbsp;brought online&nbsp;and said Arizona's virus replication number of 0.86&nbsp;— the average number of people a COVID-positive individual will infect&nbsp;— was "the lowest&nbsp;… in the nation."&nbsp;"The last thing we need is another politician rooting for the virus because it helps them politically. We've got enough of that," Ducey wrote. "(Arizona)&nbsp;has more work to do, but we are on the right track thanks to the actions and responsibility of our people."Neither politician told the whole story.A few weeks have passed since Arizona's positivity rates were in the 20% range Biden cited.&nbsp;But Ducey's percent positivity range of 9-11% appeared generous: Johns Hopkins University had the state's .It's possible Biden and Ducey were looking at different numbers.Biden seemed to use&nbsp;the , which can be complicated by test processing delays. Ducey seemed to rely&nbsp;on the state's epidemic curve&nbsp;— a more precise depiction of positivity over time, but one that can weeks to accurately backfill.&nbsp;Either way, Arizona has yet to achieve the positivity rate of 5% or less recommended by the World Health Organization.Biden's claim about backlogs in testing results also was outdated:&nbsp;Sonora Quest, Arizona's largest lab partner, eliminated its backlog a few days ago. The state did have major delays for weeks, though, with some patients reporting&nbsp; that rendered their results essentially useless.&nbsp; And while Arizona has seen drops in daily COVID-19 caseloads and&nbsp;hospitalization rates during&nbsp;the past month, the policy moves that spurred those improvements&nbsp;came after&nbsp;caseloads spiraled out of control in June,&nbsp;ultimately producing .Despite the advice of epidemiologists, Ducey&nbsp;lifted stay-at-home restrictions in mid-May and encouraged Arizonans to patronize their favorite businesses,&nbsp;He also opted to forgo a statewide mask mandate, instead leaving those decisions to local governments and opting to fund a&nbsp;statewide public awareness campaign. About 90% of the state now has a local mask mandate in place.Reach the reporter at &nbsp;or 602-653-6807. Follow her on Twitter .Support local journalism. .View Comments

Arizona RepublicView CommentsPresumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden questioned&nbsp;recent praise&nbsp;of Arizona as a national leader in COVID-19 containment Friday, prompting a spirited retort from Gov. Doug Ducey.President Donald Trump and U.S.&nbsp;coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx&nbsp;had during the governor's visit to the White House on Wednesday.Trump called Arizona&nbsp;— a battleground state in the November election&nbsp;—&nbsp;"a model for other states in&nbsp;applying a science-based approach to the decreasing cases and hospitalizations without...

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Maria Polletta

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Biden slams Arizona's response to COVID-19 pandemic days after praise from Trump, Birx at White House

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