More US States Step Back From Reopening as COVID-19 Cases Surge
More U.S. states and businesses on Monday rolled back plans to reopen their economies, citing surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, as the government’s top infectious disease specialist blamed the spikes on…
More U.S. states and businesses on Monday rolled back plans to reopen their economies, citing surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, as the government’s top infectious disease specialist blamed the spikes on Americans ignoring public health guidelines.
The rises in confirmed cases and hospitalizations have been most pronounced in Sun Belt states such as Florida, Texas and Arizona that defied advice from health experts to wait longer before easing restrictions.
“That’s a recipe for disaster,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN in an interview broadcast on Monday.
“Now we’re seeing the consequences of community spread, which is even more difficult to contain than spread in a well-known physical location like a prison or nursing home or meatpacking place,” Fauci said in the interview, which was recorded on Friday.
The New York Times reported on Monday that 43 percent of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 were linked to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The paper cited its own tracking database.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said on Monday that indoor dining will no longer resume on Thursday in the state as planned and would be postponed indefinitely.
California authorities on Sunday ordered bars in Los Angeles and six other counties to close. Texas and Florida ordered the closure of all their bars on Friday.
Beaches in Florida’s Broward County and Palm Beach County will not open on July 3-5, officials said on Sunday, a blow to residents hoping to celebrate Independence Day there on Saturday. Miami-Dade County had already announced beach closures for the holiday weekend.
AMC, the largest U.S. movie theater chain, on Monday said it was pushing back the opening of its theaters to July 30 from July 15.
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Arizona and Georgia were among the states reporting record new cases this week. Last week, a total of 15 U.S. states reported records, according to a Reuters tally.