Coronavirus Live News and updates


The governor’s handling of the pandemic has come under intense criticism from Democratic leaders in the state’s largest cities. Until last week, the governor resisted allowing mayors to make wearing masks mandatory in their cities.

In Maine, indoor bars will not reopen as planned. In Louisiana, the occupancy limits will remain in effect. And in Riley County, Kansas, where case numbers grew more than 50 percent in the past week, authorities said they would tighten restrictions on mass gatherings.

“I think we let our guard down a bit,” said Julie Gibbs, the Riley County health officer. Several athletes from Kansas State University, which is located in the county, have tested positive in recent days, and most of the new cases have been in young adults.

Louisiana recorded another 393 new cases on Monday, a trend seen after a period of sustained declines. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said it was not yet safe for businesses to reopen more fully. He noted that about 90 percent of new cases came from the community, not from nursing homes or other group housing facilities.

“It is clear that Covid is alive and well in Louisiana, and as we see more people test positive and are admitted to hospitals, we are simply not ready to move on to the next phase,” Edwards said.

In Maine, as in most of the Northeast, the number of cases has continued to decline. But authorities said groupings in restaurants and bars in other states made them withdraw from plans to reopen bars for domestic service on July 1.

“As we learn more about how the virus spreads, duration and density, specifically, being indoors indoors, as is the case with most bars, clearly increases the risk of transmission of the virus. virus, “said Dr. Nirav D. Shah, director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.