PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. — Led by Arizona state lawmaker Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, multiple Arizona officials are asking for ZIP code data related to coronavirus cases in Arizona.
In a lawsuit filed Friday against the Arizona Department of Health Services and Pinal County, the petitioners ask for ZIP code and dates regarding all prior and forthcoming positive COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The petitioners also asked the court to compel the Pinal County Health Department to release further information regarding testing practices, pending results, number of patients hospitalized, number of ventilators available and required and more.
AZDHS has not reported specifics on the locations of positive cases, except going by county, in order to protect private health information, according to Director Dr. Cara Christ.
Most counties in Arizona have not given specifics related to their cases, but Mohave County in northwest Arizona is noting which cities their cases are in.
As of April 6, Mohave County has 19 cases:11 are in the Lake Havasu City area, six in Kingman and two in Bullhead City.
Maricopa and Pima counties are keeping track and reporting more information including age ranges of cases, how many are hospitalized and whether they had to be admitted into the intensive care unit, but they are not reporting ZIP code or city-specific data.
According to Team 12's Brahm Resnik, per an email from AZDHS to Townsend, the release of the requested information is not allowed under state law, and Gov. Ducey's March 23 executive order on sharing coronavirus information didn't include this data.
Other petitioners on the lawsuit include the mayors of Florence and Apache Junction, the Apache Junction fire chief, a Pima County supervisor and two Apache Junction council members.
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