Rising numbers of coronavirus infections in Arizona must be taken "in context," as there is now much more testing going on, Rep. Andy Biggs said Monday.
"We have two border counties where they really have increased the number so they've become the hot spots," the Arizona Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Those with the Navajo reservation, those four counties really are the spot, but at the same time, we have discharged 4,000 patients since June 1."
As of Sunday, Arizona added more than 800 more positive coronavirus infections bringing the total to approximately 73,000 cases and 1,394 deaths.
"We are holding pretty steady at 85% of ICU [intensive care unit] beds in use, so we still have that 15% vacancy rate there," said Biggs, adding that the mortality and hospitalization rates have been cut in half in recent weeks.
Biggs also doubled down on a recent opinion piece he wrote, in which he called governments that force people to wear masks "tyrannical," insisting that private businesses and citizens should be able to determine the measures they think are most appropriate.
"These mask orders were initiated without authority or process and that's important in a free society that you do things by process," he said. "The second thing is, you can identify the people who are most vulnerable, which we have done, and even the previous report that talks about you've got a spike, but still, over 65 folks with comorbidities remain the most vulnerable."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.