Worsening US outbreak prompts tough actions as new Covid cases hit record

COVID-19 cases spike in US city after Trump rally

COVID-19 cases spike in US city after Trump rally

Published Jul 9, 2020

Share

NEW YORK - New Jersey adopted a stringent

coronavirus face-mask order on Wednesday, and New York City

unveiled a plan to allow public school students back into

classrooms for just two or three days a week, as Covid-19 cases

soared elsewhere in the US.

Officials in New Jersey and New York, the hardest-hit states

at the outset of the US outbreak, are trying to preserve

progress against the virus as it resurges in other parts of the

country, especially the South and West.

More than 47 000 people have perished from Covid-19 in the

two northeastern states, representing more than a third of the

132 000 US deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

Nearly 59 000 new Covid-19 infections were reported across

the US on Wednesday, the greatest single-day national

tally of cases yet since the virus emerged late last year in

China.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy ordered people to wear face

coverings outdoors when social distancing was not possible,

citing a rise in the state's coronavirus transmission rate.

"It's about life and death," Murphy, a Democrat, said at a

briefing.

Many states require masks in public indoor settings and

recommend them outside, but have stopped short of mandating

their use outdoors.

"I think that's the right thing to do," said Jordan Grant,

23, a real estate accountant who expressed dismay at groups

congregating without masks. "It's what we should have been doing

months ago."

Republican state Senator Michael Doherty, however, accused

the New Jersey governor of "exploiting a public health crisis

for power", calling the new mask directive "oppressive."

In New York City, mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan for

1.1 million students in the nation's largest public school

district to return to classes in September. Pupils would

alternate attending school two or three days weekly and spend

the remaining time at home.

'BACK TO SCHOOL'

Republican President Donald Trump, who has exhorted

Americans to return to their daily routines, threatened to cut

off federal funding to schools that fail to reopen on their

normal schedule due to the coronavirus outbreak.

States are chiefly responsible for primary and secondary

education, but the federal government provides some

supplementary funding.

Vice president Mike Pence said the US Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention would soon issue new back-to-school

protocols after Trump criticized current recommendations as too

strict and costly. But Pence stressed that CDC guidelines are

advisory.

Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in 42 of the 50

states over the past two weeks, according to a Reuters analysis.

Meanwhile, the percentage of people testing positive among those

who are screened has climbed above 5% – to levels health experts

deem concerning – in some two dozen states.

On Tuesday, the number of confirmed US cases crossed the 3

million mark, roughly equivalent to 1% of the population and

about 25% of all known infections worldwide.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who faces Trump

in a November 3 election, described the grim milestone as "awful"

and "avoidable". He accused Trump of putting the nation in a

precarious spot by not ramping up testing and deliveries of

protective equipment.

The virus is sweeping through a number of heavily populated

states, including California and Texas. Twenty states have

reported record increases in cases this month.

PANDEMIC AND POLITICS

Houston, the largest city in Texas and the US oil

industry's hub, registered more than 1 000 new cases on Tuesday,

a single-day record, mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted on

Wednesday, calling the spread "severe and uncontrolled".

Turner, a Democrat, ordered the cancellation of a Texas

Republican Party convention scheduled for July 16-18 in Houston,

citing public health concerns.

In neighbouring Oklahoma, Dr Bruce Dart, the top health

official in Tulsa, said Trump's campaign rally at an indoor

arena in the city last month likely contributed to hundreds of

new coronavirus cases over the past few days.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said she had seen

no data to support Dart's conclusions.

An outbreak at the Mississippi state Capitol in Jackson

left 26 lawmakers and 10 others infected, prompting the governor

to urge anyone who had contact with a legislator to get tested,

the Mississippi Clarion Ledger reported.

The surge has forced authorities to backpedal on moves to

reopen businesses, such as restaurants and bars, after mandatory

closures reduced economic activity to a virtual standstill in

March and April and put millions of Americans out of work.

Reuters

Related Topics:

coronavirus