Arizona man, 68, fears COVID-19 infection as state reopens, 'It was too much, too soon'

Arizona man, 68, fears COVID-19 infection as state reopens, ‘It was too much, too soon’

A 68-year-old Arizona man fears contracting the coronavirus, saying Gov. Doug Ducey hasn't taken the pandemic seriously enough to protect the state's most vulnerable population.

PHOENIX - For Tucson grandfather Tim Oliver, it truly is a matter of life or death if he were to contract the coronavirus.

“We’re worse off now than we were in March. I feel worse than I did in March,” he said.

The 68-year-old environmental engineer felt so strongly about the current COVID-19 situation in Arizona that he fired off two letters to Governor Doug Ducey, blasting his response to growing case loads and the choice to reopen the state a month ago.

“We need to roll that back a little bit, we don’t need bars open," he said. "It was too much, too soon."

For Oliver, it comes down to two things.

He’d like to see Ducey come out stronger in favor of masks. “It’s public health, we’re not wearing masks to protect ourselves, we’re wearing masks to protect everyone else," Oliver explained.

The second thing, hospital capacity. Ducey has touted Arizona can keep treating people, saying last week, “This is what we’ve been preparing for. If you’re sick we can treat you.”

Oliver says that won’t do much good for people in his age range.

“I don’t need a hospital, I need to stay alive. If I get this thing I stand a good chance of being dead, I’m not gonna take up anyone’s hospital bed. I’ll take up room in the morgue."

Ducey never responded to a request for comment about Oliver's messages.