Protesters use body bags to ask Arizona governor to reconsider lifting stay-at-home order

A group of protesters used body bags in a Tuesday demonstration to request Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to reconsider lifting the state’s stay-at-home order.

The demonstrators brought more than 20 body bags to the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix for a socially-distanced protest. 

The protest, organized by grassroots progressive movement Indivisible Phoenix, argued that Ducey’s loosening of restrictions to prevent coronavirus spread came “too soon [and] too fast,” The Arizona Republic reported. 

Fewer than a dozen people gathered in protest of the governor’s announcement last week that some nonessential businesses and restaurants could reopen despite the stay-at-home order originally being extended until May 15. The demonstrators wore masks and one dressed as the Grim Reaper.

Sharli Schaitberger attended the protest and told The Hill that she felt like she “had to speak out” as a retired health care safety professional. She added she was “proud of her team” for working to get the message across with “as few people as possible.”

“We could have had a big crowd, but we didn’t really want to do that,” she said. “That’s not the point.”

The state began allowing retail stores to host in-person shoppers last week and restaurants to host in-person diners starting Monday.

Arizona saw its biggest single-day increase in new cases on Friday with 581. The number of new intubations also reached a new high of 84, but the rate of hospitalizations decreased.

The state has reported a total of 11,736 cases and 562 deaths, according to the state’s health department.

Navajo Nation, which consists of land in northern Arizona, has reported more cases per capita than any state in the country, with 3,122 cases and 100 deaths.

Updated: 6:27 p.m.