US states reimpose virus measures as cases near record
by Julia Benarrous, with Leila Macor in Miami
US officials on Wednesday imposed tough measures including quarantines and stay-at-home advice as daily coronavirus cases approached record levels after surging across the nation’s South and West.
Nearly four months after reporting its first death from COVID-19, the United States faces a deepening health crisis as a wave of infections hits young Americans and experts issue new acute warnings.
More than 35,900 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, with heavily populated states including Florida, Texas and California all reporting daily record cases.
The world’s largest economy is already the country’s hardest hit by the pandemic, with a mounting death toll of almost 122,000.
Some officials — including the Texas governor — who loosened restrictions on business, dining, public gatherings and tourism, are now urging residents to again stay home.
Three northeastern states that made progress beating back the pandemic — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — urged visitors arriving from US hotspots to quarantine themselves.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the advisory applied to visitors from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Utah and Texas.
Washington state was originally included, but Governor Jay Inslee said this was by error and it would be removed.
Several states in the South and West including Florida and Texas are suffering what White House advisor and top scientist Anthony Fauci described as “disturbing” new surges in infections.
Fauci warned the next two weeks would be “critical” to addressing the surges.
Texas, among the most aggressive states in reopening in early June, saw new cases hit a daily high of 5,489 on Tuesday.
A concerned Governor Greg Abbott warned Texans of the virus’s “rampant” spread and said the “safest” place to be was in their homes, adding that those who needed to go out should wear masks.
“If we are unable to slow the spread over the next few weeks, then we will have to reevaluate the extent to which businesses are open,” he told a local NBC affiliate.
“Because if it’s not contained in the next couple of weeks, it will be completely out of control, and Texas will have to ratchet back.”
Pointing to recent mass gatherings for Memorial Day and graduations, Abbott added: “Now it’s clear that Texas is not immune to COVID-19.”
Abbott is an ally of Donald Trump, but his warnings are at stark odds with the president, who proclaimed Tuesday that “we did a great job on CoronaVirus.” (AFP)
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