- A Republican sheriff in
Arizona tested positive for thecoronavirus during a screening for a meeting with President Trump. - In May, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb vowed not to enforce Arizona's lockdown, saying "the numbers don't justify the actions anymore."
- "This line of work is inherently dangerous, and that is a risk we take when we sign up for the job," he said Wednesday.
- On Thursday,
health officials reported 2,519 new cases in Arizona and 32 additional deaths, a single-day high for the state.
An Arizona sheriff who refused to enforce the state's stay-at-home and social-distancing orders has announced he tested positive for COVID-19.
Mark Lamb, the Republican sheriff for Pinal County, about 80 miles outside Phoenix, posted on Facebook Wednesday that he likely contracted the coronavirus at a re-election campaign event he hosted over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Lamb headed to Washington, DC, for an event at the White House with President Trump.
"As is protocol, all visitors are screened for the virus. While still asymptomatic, I tested positive for the COVID-19," Lamb wrote. "To make it explicitly clear, I did not attend the event or meet with the President as a result of the positive test following White House screening procedures."
Lamb and other law enforcement officials were meeting with Trump to discuss the recent protests against police brutality, The Phoenix New Times reported.
Saying he would be self-quarantining for at least the next two weeks, Lamb added he notified the Pinal County Public Health Department of his status, and that they will track anyone he had been in contact with at Saturday's rally.
"Unfortunately, as a law enforcement official and elected leader, we do not have the luxury of staying home," he wrote. "This line of work is inherently dangerous, and that is a risk we take when we sign up for the job."
Along with several other Arizona sheriffs, Lamb was vocal last month in his refusal to enforce Governor Doug Ducey's stay-at-home order, which required businesses to keep people six feet apart and use masks whenever possible.
"The numbers don't justify the actions anymore," Lamb told The Arizona Republic in early May. "Three hundred deaths is not a significant enough number to continue to ruin the economy."
While Ducey's order carried fines and jail time for violators, Lamb said he would send deputies out only to warn non-complying businesses, not make arrests or issue citations.
Lamb has made multiple visits to the White House and appeared on law-enforcement reality shows like "60 Days In" and the recently canceled "Live PD."
In February, an ethics complaint against Arizona State Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) alleged Lamb took a campaign donation from Cook in exchange for not seizing property owned by a lobbyist Cook was having a romantic relationship with, according to the AZ Mirror.
In December, Pastor Tim Gustafson, Lamb's challenger in the Republican primary, accused Lamb of serious criminal behavior, according to the Casa Grande Dispatch, "including bribery, embezzlement, financial and insurance fraud as well as engaging in shocking moral depravity."
After Lamb called for a review of the signatures on Gustafson's nomination petition, though, the pastor's campaign was invalidated.
Arizona has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks as coronavirus restrictions have been lifted.
On Thursday, state health officials reported 2,519 new cases and 32 additional deaths, a single-day high for the state.