TUCSON, Ariz. — A day after the Pima County Office of Emergency Management issued a public health warning, the county communications department is clarifying what that warning meant.
On Wednesday afternoon, the OEM issued an alert that said COVID-19 transmission is high, and area hospitals are "at capacity."
This is a Pima County Public Health Advisory. COVID-19 transmission is HIGH and hospitals are at capacity. Stay home if you can, especially if you're sick, and wear a mask when out in public. Details at https://t.co/j1HIERpzVI
— Pima County OEM (@pcoemhs) December 9, 2020
Sign up for emergency alert https://t.co/fTzCdPxORL
But on Thursday morning, the county says the alert was meant to spread the word about the public health advisory and mask mandate rules.
"The intent was to call more attention to the Health Advisory," the county said in a string of several tweets Thursday morning. "The Health Department asked that we also let people know the county’s hospitals are having to use the state surge line and implement their own surge plans to deal with the volume of patients. We in the Communications Office shortened that for the brief emergency alert we sent to say hospitals were 'at capacity.'"
"We should have given more thought to the fact that saying 'at capacity' could be interpreted by the media and the public that hospitals are full and no longer taking patients. That’s not true and not what we intended it to mean," the county said.
The county says anyone seeking care from hospitals will be able to get the care they need in Pima County, but the hospital system is still being "heavily taxed by the surge in COVID patients."
Health officials in Pima County say the clarification "should not be construed to mean that there is no public health emergency in Pima County. There is."
And the Health Department released a Public Health Advisory asking everyone in the county to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID 19. https://t.co/YK9DsPbI85
— Official Pima County (@pimaarizona) December 10, 2020
2/10
The intent was to call more attention to the Health Advisory. The Health Department asked that we also let people know the county’s hospitals are having to use the state surge line and implement their own surge plans to deal with the volume of patients.
— Official Pima County (@pimaarizona) December 10, 2020
4/10
We should have given more thought to the fact that saying “at capacity” could be interpreted by the media and the public that hospitals are full and no longer taking patients. That’s not true and not what we intended it to mean.
— Official Pima County (@pimaarizona) December 10, 2020
6/10
...thanks to the surge line and the extraordinary steps hospitals are taking in their operational plans to ensure that is the case.
— Official Pima County (@pimaarizona) December 10, 2020
This clarification should not be construed to mean that there is no public health emergency in Pima County. There is.
8/10
...and not attending any social gatherings with people not in their household.
— Official Pima County (@pimaarizona) December 10, 2020
Which was the point of the Public Health Advisory and our use of our emergency alert messaging system yesterday to call attention to it.
End of thread.
10/10
