Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry is disappointed with the early results from Arizona's statewide "testing blitz" for the coronavirus.
At Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Huckelberry suggested, diplomatically, that the blitz was a bust.
"The results of the Arizona testing blitz, at least from our perspective, was not as what was anticipated," he said.
The state Department of Health Services plans to test up to 60,000 Arizonans for COVID-19 infection over three weekends. But Huckelberry says Pima, and most other counties, found out about that plan indirectly.
"We were informed of the Arizona testing blitz by a press release that came out of the Arizona Department of Health Services, and no prior knowledge," Huckelberry told supervisors.
A total of 588 people were tested at five sites across Pima County on Saturday, according to Huckelberry. Coconino County, which only has one-seventh of Pima County's population, tested 287 people, according to the Arizona Daily Sun. No other results were available Tuesday.
Huckelberry has asked state and federal officials to fund more testing sites around the county.
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