[ad_1]
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island: The governors of Oregon and New Mexico ordered near closures on Friday (Nov. 13) in the most aggressive response to date to the latest wave of record-breaking coronavirus infections in the U.S., even as they show many of their counterparts in other states. little appetite for reimposing the hardline restrictions of last spring.
“We are in a life or death situation, and if we do not act at this time, we cannot preserve lives, we cannot continue to save lives, and we will absolutely crush our current healthcare system and infrastructure.” Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico said when imposing a stay-at-home order for two weeks.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a two-week “freeze” beginning Wednesday, under which all businesses must close their offices to the public and order work from home “to the greatest extent possible.”
While most Oregon stores will remain open, gyms, museums, swimming pools, movie theaters and zoos will be forced to close, and restaurants and bars will be limited to takeout. Social gatherings will be restricted to six people.
The Democratic governor has warned that violators could face fines or arrests.
“For the past eight months, I’ve been asking Oregonians to follow the letter and spirit of the law, and we have not chosen to involve law enforcement,” Brown said. “At this time, unfortunately, we have no other choice.”
Both states had lockdowns earlier in the year, but the coronavirus is making a comeback across the country, and the United States faces a long, dark winter.
READ: New York rolls out curbs as COVID-19 takes over the US and Europe
The scourge is blamed for 10.7 million confirmed infections and nearly a quarter of a million deaths in the US, and the closely watched University of Washington model projects nearly 439,000 deaths on March 1. .
Deaths have risen to about 1,000 per day on average. New cases per day are skyrocketing, hitting another all-time high Thursday of more than 153,000. Hospitals are flooding.
Still, there is little will among many governors and other elected officials to return to the kind of lockdowns and large-scale business shutdowns seen last spring. Some governors also continue to resist issuing state mask rules.
Among the reasons cited: public fatigue, fear of doing more harm to companies that are already paralyzed, lack of support from Washington and the way efforts to tame the virus have been fiercely politicized.
“I think that the governors and mayors are, again, in a really difficult situation. The American population is emotionally and financially depleted, “said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Diners eat at a restaurant in the United States. (Photo: AP)
President Donald Trump called on all Americans to remain “vigilant,” but ruled out a “lockdown” at the national level.
“Hopefully whatever happens in the future, who knows what administration it will be, I suppose time will tell, but I can tell you that this administration will not go into a lockdown,” Trump said in his first public comments since his defeat to the President. -Choose Joe Biden.
Governors in many states, including New York, Maryland, Virginia, and Minnesota, have taken largely incremental steps in recent days, such as limiting meeting sizes, having businesses close early, restricting capacity, or cutting sales. of alcohol earlier in the evening.
Nevada’s Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak has repeatedly argued that containing the virus is largely up to individuals.
“Some people are going to ask, ‘Why not limit stores, casinos or restaurants right now?’ That’s a fair question, ”he said. “That is the tightrope of trying to balance controlling the spread of COVID-19, protecting our hospitals from overloads, and at the same time not destroying and shutting down our economy.”
In Texas, which this week became the first state to surpass 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has emphasized new treatments and vaccines that are expected to be available soon.
READ: New hopes for vaccines as the world surpasses 10,000 COVID-19 deaths a day
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken an even tougher line against the new restrictions, suing after El Paso closed non-essential businesses due to a surge so severe that mobile morgues are being added. An appeals court on Thursday temporarily lifted the closure.
Officials have been rejected by some voters, especially business owners who fear for their livelihoods.
In Ohio, Bahram Akradi, founder, president and CEO of Life Time health clubs, objected when the governor added gyms to a list of businesses that could be closed if cases continue to rise.
“Another shutdown would be completely devastating and just plain unfair,” Akradi said. He added: “The harm in not allowing people to engage in healthy activity is much more than the gain.”
In Montana, where cases rose more than 16 percent last week, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock said he is wary of imposing tougher state restrictions without additional federal help on unemployed people and small businesses.
“I never wanted to punish companies that are doing the right thing in this pandemic to keep their employees and customers safe. Closing those companies would do just that, ”he said.
The political dangers of state mandates have manifested themselves in Wisconsin. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued a “safer at home” order in March that was challenged by Republican lawmakers and overturned by the conservative-controlled state Supreme Court in May.
The result has been a hodgepodge of local limits across the state, with some of the strictest in places like Milwaukee, which is moving ahead with heavy fines of between $ 500 and $ 5,000 for violations of health orders. local.
Other governors have also relied on local and county officials to address the crisis, creating a patchwork of restrictions across the country. But that strategy has its limits against a virus.
In Tennessee, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said he does not plan to reinstate restrictions on the city’s honky-tonks and other businesses. He said closing just one county would likely be ineffective against the virus because surrounding areas would not follow the same guidelines.
“We are also subject to what happens in our state and we cannot just keep our county safe,” Cooper said.
Some economists say the crisis has been falsely described as a choice between economics and public health. Instead, they argue that the economy cannot recover until the virus is under control and people are confident enough to go shopping, eat at restaurants and do other things again.
Experts have also argued that the strict but relatively brief lockdowns could ultimately result in less financial pain than the half measures employed now, which have only succeeded in prolonging the crisis.
Dr. Michael Fine, former director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, said the outbreak requires more aggressive strategies. Closing bars early in the evening, he said, “could have worked in July, but there is no possibility that they will work now. It’s like taking a dropper into a forest fire. “
“In the absence of very deep blocks, I don’t think we have a chance to stop the differential,” Fine said.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
