Before the July 4 weekend, more than a dozen states have paused or reversed reopening strategies as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country.
According to CNN, at least 16 states have altered their reopening strategies as the United States experienced a record in new cases last Friday with more than 40,000.
Bars in Texas and parts of California were closed, while the beaches in Fort Lauderdale and Miami were also closed, CNN said.
Massachusetts bars will reopen as part of Phase 4. Governor Charlie Baker could give the green light for Phase 3 to begin Monday. As part of Baker’s original plan, phase 3 could have started last week, but he wanted to allow two weeks of indoor dining before moving on to the third phase of the state’s strategy.
In New Jersey on Monday, the state decided not to resume indoor dining. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a decision will be made on Wednesday whether New York City could resume indoor dining.
“We have seen spikes in other states driven, in part, by the return of customers to indoor dining establishments, where they sit without covering their faces, for significant periods of time,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. . “We also feel driven to take this step because of what we’ve seen in some establishments across the state in recent times.”
Massachusetts allowed restaurants to eat indoors again on June 22, and coronavirus cases in the state have continued to decline slowly.
Massachusetts, along with New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, are on track to contain the virus, according to a model that looked at how states are fighting the virus in terms of positive test rate, infection rate, ICU beds available. and contract.
A WGBH News / MassLive / Boston Globe / State House News Service survey by the University of Suffolk showed that 81% of residents in the state support how Baker has handled the reopening process.
Still, the survey shows some caution in going back to certain activities. Of those surveyed, about 56% said they are uncomfortable eating out, while more than 70% of respondents said they would not be comfortable attending a sporting event, using public transportation, or boarding a plane.
On Monday, Massachusetts announced 101 new cases with 35 new deaths. The state has now experienced at least 102,768 cases of the virus and 8,095 deaths. Only New York and New Jersey have experienced more deaths.
Globally, the virus has claimed more than 500,000 lives, and about a fifth of that total comes from the United States.
Last week, 31 states saw an increase in new coronavirus cases compared to the previous week, CNN said. The waves were experienced mainly in the south and west.
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