Aug. 10, 2020
Tumamoc Hill to Remain Open, Masks Still Mandatory
TUCSON, Ariz. – Tumamoc Hill will remain open after university officials saw a marked increase in the number of walkers wearing masks – one of the hill's mandatory guidelines put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The popular walking destination on Tucson's west side, which is managed by the University of Arizona in partnership with Pima County, closed in mid-March and reopened on May 25. Walkers returned to the hill in large numbers despite the heat, with between 750 and 1,000 people on the hill every day since early June.
Not all walkers observed the safety protocols that allowed the hill to reopen, specifically the requirement that everyone wear face coverings. The university on July 24 began monitoring the number of walkers wearing face coverings to determine whether to keep the hill open or temporarily close it again. A whiteboard at the base of the hill listed the percentage of visitors wearing face coverings each day, along with the previous day.
Elizabeth "Betsy" Catwell, senior vice president for research and innovation, also urged walkers to mask up in an Aug. 4 column in the Arizona Daily Star.
Since July 24, the percentage of morning walkers wearing masks has risen sharply from about 23% to nearly 70%.
While more morning walkers are showing up to the hill wearing masks, evening walkers are still wearing masks at a much lower rate, around 50%. Officials would have closed the hill if the decision was based on evening walkers alone, said Benjamin Wilder, director of Tumamoc Hill.
A closure at a later date is still possible, but growing adherence to safety protocols is promising, Wilder said.
"Thus far, this is an impressive result that inspires a lot of hope in our ability to adapt to these times," he said. "Thank you to everyone that has shifted your behavior. But this continues to be an uphill climb, and we need everyone doing their part."
Media contact:
Ben Wilder
Tumamoc Hill
520-621-6949
bwilder@arizona.edu
The University of Arizona, a land-grant university with two independently accredited medical schools, is one of the nation's top public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as a student-centric university and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The university ranked in the top 20 in 2018 in research expenditures among all public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, and is a leading Research 1 institution with $687 million in annual research expenditures. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 65 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually. For the latest on the University of Arizona response to the novel coronavirus, visit the university's COVID-19 webpage.