‘We opened too soon’: US struggles under virus surge
As coronavirus cases in the US continue to spike, Florida and Texas shut down beaches, rivers and bars and the EU looks to “ban” Americans and other citizens from entering Europe.
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The United States has confirmed more than 2.5 million coronavirus cases across the country.
There are also at least 125,435 deaths attributed to the new virus, more than in any other country, according to a tally released by Johns Hopkins University.
The surge in cases is most notable across the southern and western states, where many of the states had less stringent lockdown measures.
California, the most populous state, which did institute severe coronavirus closures, also saw record cases this week.
The country broke its single-day new infections record repeatedly this week, with well over 39,000 new reported cases on Thursday.
As America’s reopening plans stalled, Miami closed its beaches for the July 4 holiday weekend and Texas shut bars along Autin’s famed party strip.
The drastic measures come as Florida’s coronavirus cases continue to soar.
On Saturday (local time), Florida broke its one-day record for new coronavirus infections for a second straight day with an additional 9636 positive cases, the state’s department of health said.
There were 76,129 tests conducted Friday, with a 12.7 per cent positivity rate, officials said. Florida has more than 122,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with at least 3366 deaths.
Under the bar ban, businesses that rake in more than half of their sales from alcohol can still sell booze to go.
The Florida bar ban comes just three weeks after the businesses were allowed to reopen.
But Florida confirmed almost 9000 coronavirus cases in a single day on Friday — a record — the Miami Herald reported.
US Vice President Mike Pence is calling off a planned bus tour in Florida to benefit his and President Donald Trump’s re-election amid the state’s surge in cases.
Texas, meanwhile, has once again had to close businesses with virus cases skyrocketing and hospitals running out of intensive-care beds.
Bars – which were open at up to 50 per cent capacity – must close again, restaurants must reduce from 75 per cent to 50 per cent capacity and rafting operations must close, putting an end to a Texas summer tradition; inner-tubing down the state’s rivers.
Harris County, which includes Houston, moved to its highest COVID-19 threat level, signalling a “severe and uncontrolled” outbreak.
“The harsh truth is that our current infection rate is on pace to overwhelm our hospitals in the very near future,” Lina Hidalgo, the county judge, said at a press conference. “We opened too quickly.”
“Effective immediately, the Texas Department of Business and Professional Regulation is suspending on premises consumption of alcohol at bars statewide,” Halsey Beshears, the department’s secretary, tweeted.
Ms Beshears added under the order “nothing changes for restaurants” where the majority of sales come from food sales.
Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez, meanwhile, condemned beachgoers for blatantly flouting coronavirus safety measures has he announced the holiday closures later in the day.
“As we continue to see more COVID-19 positive test results among young adults and rising hospitalisations, I have decided that the only prudent thing to do to tamp down this recent uptick is to crack down on recreational activities that put our overall community at higher risk,” Gimenez said in a statement.
The order, which extends to the entire Miami-Dade County, comes while the state grapples with a dramatic uptick in COVID-19 cases. Florida set and broke single-day records for new cases twice this week after reporting two straight days with at least 5,000 positive test results.
On Friday, White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci singled out young Americans for spreading the coronavirus as daily cases in the US reach troubling new heights.
“The overwhelming majority of people who are now getting infected are young people, like the people that you see in the clips in the paper or out in the crowds enjoying themselves,” Dr Fauci said.
“The thing that you really need to realise, that when you do that you are part of a process, so if you get infected, you will infect someone else.”
The New York Post reported, the stark warning was delivered at the first coronavirus task force briefing in two months as the number of new cases across the country reached an all-time high, forcing some governors to halt their plans for reopening.
TRUMP STAFFERS UNDER VIRUS CLOUD
Meanwhile, several of Donald Trump’s campaign staffers who attended last weekend’s controversial rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma are reportedly being required to get tested for the coronavirus.
Staff were directed to be tested over the weekend before they can be allowed to return to work on Monday, according to an email obtained by ABC News in the US.
According to the New York Post, the email outlined that staffers who were in Tulsa “are required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test this weekend.”
The campaign is setting up a “remote COVID-19 testing site” for its workers to be testing on Sunday, according to the email.
Eight staffers have already tested positive for the virus and dozens more have been working while in self-quarantine since returning from Oklahoma.
“As a precaution staff who made the trip to Tulsa are working remotely, and they will be tested and return working to the office after that,” said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, in a call with reporters.
Mr Trump pressed on with the rally despite the ongoing pandemic and against the wishes of local officials.
The campaign gave out masks to attendees for free, but many in the crowd of more than 6000 declined to wear them — as has the Mr Trump himself.
US ‘OUT’ AS EU NARROWS DOWN OPEN BORDER LIST
European Union envoys are close to finalising a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again, possibly from late next week, EU diplomats confirmed on Saturday (local time).
Americans are almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of US coronavirus cases. The envoys were expected to have narrowed down later on Saturday the exact criteria for countries to make the list, which include the way the spread of the virus is being managed. Another key condition is whether the country has a ban on citizens from European nations.
The number of cases in the United States has surged over the past week, with an all-time high of 45,300 confirmed new daily infections just reached. US President Donald Trump also suspended the entry of all people from Europe’s ID check-free travel zone in a decree in March.
The EU diplomats confirmed that an official agreement on the criteria – likely to include a limit on the infection rate per 100,000 citizens – is expected late on Monday or early Tuesday. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the procedure is ongoing and politically very sensitive. Infection rates are high in Brazil, India and Russia, and it’s unlikely the EU will let their citizens in, either. The list would be updated every 14 days, with new countries added and some possibly being left off based on how they manage the spread of the virus.
More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe annually, and any delay would be a further blow to virus-ravaged economies and tourism sectors, both in Europe and the United States. Around 10 million Europeans are thought to cross the Atlantic for vacations and business each year. The 27 EU nations and four other countries that are part of Europe’s “Schengen area” – a 26-nation bloc where goods and people move freely without document checks – appear on track to reopen their borders between each other by July 1. Once that happens, restrictions on non-essential travel to Europe, which were imposed in March to halt new virus cases from entering, would gradually be lifted.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played down concerns that the EU might refuse to allow Americans in.
“We’ve denied travel to Europe and vice versa. That’s the posture that we all sit in now, and I think we’re all taking seriously the need to figure out how to get this up,” Mr Pompeo said. “We’ll work to get this right. We want to make sure that it’s health-based, science-based.
“We need to get our global economy back going again,” he said.
The European Commission, which monitors the bloc’s laws, believes that “travel restrictions should not be lifted as regards third countries where the situation is worse” than the average in the 27 EU member countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The commission insists that it’s not trying to target any country or that the list might be politicised as tourism-reliant countries around Europe push to get their borders back open again.
“The European Union has an internal process to determine from which countries it would be safe to accept travellers,” spokesman Eric Mamer said on Thursday, adding that its decisions are “based on health criteria.”
CASES SPIKE IN INDIA
Meanwhile, India reported over 17,000 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s total above 500,000, federal health ministry data showed on Saturday, with infections surging in major cities including the capital New Delhi.
India has the world’s fourth-biggest outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19, below only the United States, Brazil and Russia in confirmed infections.
Infections are expected to continue rising steadily in India. Experts advising the federal government say the authorities should now prioritize reducing mortality over containing the spread of the virus.
“Our focus should be on preventing deaths and not really getting bogged down because of the numbers. Numbers are going to increase,” said Dr. Manoj Murhekar, a member of India’s main coronavirus task force and director of the National Institute of Epidemiology.
Experts forecast that that India could see between 770,000 and 925,000 cases by July 15.
ITALY RECORDS LOWEST VIRUS TALLY IN MONTHS
But in some good news, Italy has registered the lowest day-to-day tally of COVID-19 deaths on Saturday since March 1, a week before the country went into nationwide lockdown. According to Health Ministry data, there were eight deaths of infected patients since Friday, raising the nation’s known toll in the pandemic to 34,716.
There were 175 new cases, bringing the overall count of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country where Europe’s outbreak first exploded to 240,136. Authorities have said since many people with mild symptoms don’t get tested, the actual number is certainly higher.
Lombardy, Italy’s most-stricken region, confirmed 77 new cases in the last 24 hours, one of only a few days it has registered less than triple-figure daily new caseloads since early in the pandemic.
For the first time since the very early days of the outbreak, fewer than 100 infected patients were occupying intensive care unit beds nationwide. In early April, more than 4000 COVID-19 patients occupied ICU beds, as the nation’s health system in northern Italy struggled to care for several thousand new cases each day.
Originally published as ‘We opened too soon’: US struggles under virus surge