Reacting to a surge in COVID-19 cases, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered all movie theaters closed for 30 days, along with bars, nightclubs, gyms and water parks.
Ducey made the announcement during a news conference with the executive order going into effect at 8 p.m. Monday. “This will help relieve stress on our health care system and give time for new transmissions to slow,” Ducey tweeted.
Most movie theaters around the country closed in mid-March due to the pandemic. Ducey announced in May that theaters could reopen after the state’s stay-at-home order expired on May 15, but that people needed to continue to practice social distancing and follow CDC-recommended guidelines. There was no statewide no requirement to wear a mask in public.
Comscore reported that 13 of the 94 movie theater locations in Arizona were open this past weekend. During the same time, there were 1,072 U.S. theaters open, including 284 drive-ins. But studios have largely given up on a mid-summer season and shifted back their major releases to August with Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” opening on Aug. 12.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arizona hit 74,533 and 1,588 deaths in the state on Monday. Arizona saw cases begin to spike in early June in the wake of the stay-at-home order. On June 27, Vice President Mike Pence postponed a campaign events in Arizona and Florida “out of an abundance of caution” as both states experienced a spike in coronavirus cases.