Shomporko Desk:-AUSTIN, TEXAS – Reversing course, two of America’s largest states reinstated some coronavirus limitations in the country’s biggest retreat yet, as the everyday quantity of showed infections in the U.S. surged Friday to an all-time excessive of 45,300.
In Asia, an outsized increase pushed India’s total cases over the half-million mark, the fourth maximum globally in the back of the U.S., Brazil and Russia, while China and South Korea battled smaller outbreaks in their capitals.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all bars shut, while Florida prohibited liquor at such establishments. They joined a small but growing number of states that are either backtracking or requiring any further reviving of their economies to be postponed in light of a rebound by the infection, generally in the country’s South and West.
Health experts have said a disturbingly large number of cases are being seen among young people who are going out again, often without wearing masks or observing other social-distancing rules.
“It is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars,” Abbott said.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez in Florida’s Miami-Dade county announced Friday night he would close beaches over the Fourth of July weekend. He said cracking down on recreational activities is prudent given the growing number of infections among young adults.
Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street over the surging case numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 730 points or nearly 3%.
The Indian city of Gauhati, the capital of Assam, will be locked down for two weeks from Sunday midnight with night curfews and weekend lockdowns in the rest of the state. India added 18,552 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total to 508,953. The death toll reached 15,685.
China saw an uptick in cases, one day after authorities said they expect an outbreak in Beijing to be brought under control in the near future. The National Health Commission reported 17 new cases in the nation’s capital, the most in a week, among 21 nationwide.
In Florida, the agency that regulates bars acted after the daily number of new confirmed cases neared 9,000, almost doubling the record set just two days earlier.
Colleen Corbett, a 30-year-old bartender at two places in Tampa, said that she was disappointed and worried about being unemployed again but that the restrictions are the right move. Most customers were not wearing masks, she said.
A number of the hardest-hit states, including Florida and Arizona, have Republican governors who have resisted mask-wearing requirements and largely echoed President Donald Trump’s desire to reopen the economy quickly despite warnings the virus could come storming back.
The White House coronavirus task force, led by Vice-President Mike Pence, held its first briefing in nearly two months Friday, and Pence gave assurances that the U.S. is “in a much better place” than it was two months ago.
The virus is blamed for about 125,000 deaths and nearly 2.5 million confirmed infections nationwide, by Johns Hopkins’ count. But health officials believe the true number of infections is about 10 times higher. Worldwide, the virus has claimed close to a half-million lives.
Louisiana reported its second one-day spike of more than 1,300 cases this week. The increasing numbers led Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards to suspend further easing of restrictions. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey did the same in Arizona, where cases are topping 3,000 a day and 85% of hospital beds are occupied.
In a reversal of fortune, New York said it is offering equipment and other help to Arizona, Texas and Florida, noting that other states came to its aid when it was in the throes of the deadliest outbreak in the nation this spring.
“We will never forget that graciousness, and we will repay it any way we can,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Photo credit: AP Photo
News source: The Associated Press
