The United States is the hardest hit by the pandemic, with more than 121,000 dead.
Miami:
As coronavirus cases rise in the southern and western United States, authorities are once again imposing harsh measures, ranging from home advice in worst-affected states to quarantines to protect recovery areas like New York.
Nearly four months after the United States announced its first death from COVID-19, the country faces a worsening health crisis as a wave of infections strikes young Americans and experts issue new acute warnings.
The world‘s largest economy is the country hardest hit by the pandemic, with more than 121,000 deaths.
Officials – including the governor of Texas – who have relaxed restrictions on business, dining, public gatherings and tourism, are now urging residents to stay home.
On Wednesday, three northeastern states that have made progress in fighting the pandemic – New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – urged visitors from U.S. hotspots to quarantine themselves.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the notice is for visitors to Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina , Washington, Utah and Texas.
Several heavily populated southern and western states, including Florida and Texas, are suffering from what White House adviser and senior scientist Anthony Fauci has described as a “spurt” of new outbreaks infections.
Daily case averages are being pushed to record levels in the region, even as former epicenters like New York and Detroit have seen their numbers drop.
Fauci warned that the next two weeks would be “critical” to deal with the flare-ups, which also hit the country’s most populous state, California.
Florida registered 5,508 new infections on Tuesday, bringing its total to more than 109,000 confirmed cases and 3,281 deaths.
Governor Ron DeSantis said the state was experiencing “a veritable explosion of new cases among our young demographic groups” and a spike in hospitalizations.
He warned that bars and restaurants could lose their liquor licenses if they did not follow the social distancing guidelines.
DeSantis has refused to order a statewide mandatory masking policy, as have California and Washington state leaders.
But that didn’t stop Miami from implementing its own mandatory mask rules.
Stay at home
In Texas, which was among the most aggressive states when it reopened in early June after months of foreclosure, new cases peaked at 5,489 daily on Tuesday.
A concerned governor, Greg Abbott, warned Texans of the “endemic” spread of the virus and said the “safest” place was at home, adding that those who had to go out should wear masks.
“If these peaks continue, additional measures will be necessary,” he said.
Abbott is an ally of Donald Trump, but his warnings are in total contradiction with the president, who proclaimed Tuesday that “we have done a great job on CoronaVirus”.
Epidemiologist Rebecca Fisher said states like Texas should have continued their mitigation efforts longer.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re nearing the top,” Fisher told AFP. “And we certainly haven’t come down to the other side yet.”
The border state of southwest Arizona is also experiencing dangerous spikes.
His confirmed COVID-19 cases have more than quadrupled since the expiration of the home stay order on May 15, and those infected are getting younger.
Arizona’s seven-day moving average of 39 new cases per 100,000 population is a national high.
That compares to 14 per 100,000 in Texas, 11 per 100,000 in California and only 3 per 100,000 in New York State, according to the Washington Post.
But disastrous numbers didn’t stop Trump from hosting a rally on Tuesday in Arizona’s largest city, Phoenix, where most of the participants wore neither masks nor social distancing.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
