The city of Chicago reimposed some
coronavirus restrictions on Monday and the state of Florida
reported more than 10 000 new cases for the sixth day in a row,
as the pandemic showed few signs of abating in the United
States.
In a rare ray of hope, New York state reported the fewest
hospitalizations from the coronavirus in four months and New
York City entered a new phase of reopening on Monday, but the
progress, in the very city and state that were once the
epicenter, was eclipsed by the grim news nearly everywhere else.
Metrics for the country have grown worse including a rising
number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations along with rates of
positive test results. The virus has killed 140,000 people in
the United States and infected some 3.7 million, both figures
leading the world.
Florida reported 10,347 new cases on Monday, the sixth day
in a row the state has announced over 10,000 new infections.
Another 92 people died in Florida, increasing the state's death
toll to 5,183.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new restrictions due
to take effect on Friday including a ban on indoor service at
bars and shutdown of personal services such as shaves and
facials that require the removal of masks.
"While we aren't near the peak of the pandemic from earlier
this year, none of us wants to go back there," Lightfoot said in
a statement.
The city of Los Angeles is on the brink of issuing a new
stay-at-home order and at least 14 states have reported record
hospitalizations so far in July, including Alabama, Arizona,
Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas.
Meanwhile, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump
is pushing for schools to reopen in a few weeks and resisting a
federal mandate that people wear masks in public, part of what
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called an "incompetent" federal
government response.
"I've said to the president from Day One: This virus does
not respond to politics," Cuomo told a news conference. "The
solution is medicine and science."
WHITE HOUSE BRIEFINGS RESUME
The country remained "totally unprepared," Cuomo said, as
other states lagged in testing, contact tracing, and personal
protective equipment for doctors and nurses.
"Their mistake was they listened to the president," Cuomo
said, while also blasting "stupid and reckless" people in his
own state who persistently gather in large groups.
On Monday Trump, under fire over his administration's
response to the surging virus, said he would on Tuesday resume
holding news briefings on the pandemic after a lengthy hiatus.
White House debate has centered on whether Trump should risk
doing daily briefings after he was mocked for musing that people
might inject household disinfectants as a way to protect
themselves from contracting the virus.
Last Friday Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told
reporters she favored a return of the briefings, which she said
had bolstered his approval ratings.
New York state, where the virus took hold early this year
before spreading to other states, recorded only eight deaths on
Sunday while the total number of people hospitalized for the
disease fell to 716, the fewest since March 18, Cuomo said.
However a Reuters analysis of data from the COVID Tracking
Project showed cases rose by more than 5,000 in the past week,
the first week-over-week increase since April, breaking a
13-week streak of declines.
New York City entered a new phase on Monday that will allow
low-risk outdoor activity, entertainment at 33 percent capacity
and professional sports events. But Major League Baseball's
Yankees and Mets will start their seasons in empty New York City
ballparks, indoor dining in restaurants is still prohibited, and
bars are subject to social distancing rules.