By Danny Shapiro | KTAR
The former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services said Thursday he believes the state’s initial move to stop using researchers to model the coronavirus outbreak was made because of possible conflict with policy decisions.
“I don’t think they wanted any more results because they were afraid they weren’t going to support decisions they were going to make,” Will Humble told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad.
On Wednesday, the state health department said it no longer needed researchers from state universities to predict the spread of COVID-19.
AZDHS reversed course Thursday, announcing its partnership with the university coronavirus modeling team was being extended.
This came after a health department spokesman said Wednesday the research team finished its work last month, right as the team’s leader, Dr. Timothy Lant of Arizona State University, had urged gradually reopening Arizona’s economy in late May.
