S T. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Florida and other Sunbelt states are thinning out loungers, flipping stools and rushing to line up more hospital beds as they progress through the peak summer season amid a surprising surge. coronavirus cases.
With recently reported infections running around 40,000 per day in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warned Tuesday that the number could rise to 100,000 if Americans don’t start. to follow public health recommendations.
In recent days, states like Florida, Arizona, Texas, and California have reversed course, closing or suppressing bars, closing beaches, reducing restaurant capacity, limiting crowds in swimming pools, or taking other steps to curb a scourge that may prosper due to factors such as air conditioning and resistance to wearing masks.
“Every time you have these reopens, you depend on people to do the right thing, to follow the rules. I think that’s where the weak points come in, ”said Dr. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida. She warned that things are likely to get worse before they get better.
Hospitals at the new hotspots are already near the limit and are struggling to add beds in intensive care units for an expected increase in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks.
Recently confirmed cases in Florida have skyrocketed in the past week, especially in younger people, who may be more likely to survive the virus but can transmit it to the many vulnerable older residents of the Sunshine State.
The state reported more than 6,000 new confirmed cases Tuesday. More than 8,000 were recorded on each of the three days at the end of last week. Deaths have exceeded 3,500. Floridians ages 15 to 34 now account for 31% of all cases, up from 25% in early June. Last week, more than 8,000 new confirmed cases were reported in that age group, compared to approximately 2,000 among people ages 55 to 64.
Hospital ICUs are beginning to fill up in South Florida, with an increasing number of patients requiring ventilators. Baptist Hospital in Miami had only six of its 82 ICU beds available, authorities said.
In heavily affected Arizona, hospitals are looking for ways to get more beds into their facilities and hiring nurses out of state. State officials have authorized “crisis care standards” that inform hospitals which patients should obtain a ventilator or other scarce resources if there is a shortage.
Dignity Health, which operates multiple hospitals in the Phoenix area, is converting more areas to treat patients with COVID-19 and is preparing to put multiple patients in private rooms, spokeswoman Carmelle Malkovich said. It brings nurses from under-utilized hospitals in its system to Arizona, and hires nurses and respiratory therapists who travel throughout the month of July.
Republican Governor Doug Ducey closed bars, movie theaters, and gyms and banned groups of more than 10 in swimming pools.
Air conditioning could be a factor in hot weather states where new cases have skyrocketed, because it recirculates air instead of bringing it fresh from the outside, said Dr. Kristin Englund, an infectious disease doctor at the Cleveland Clinic.
“I definitely think air conditioning and oppressive heat in the South are going to play a role in this,” he said.
The coronavirus has been blamed for more than half a million deaths worldwide, including around 130,000 in the U.S., where the number of new cases per day has skyrocketed in the past month, primarily in the South and the West.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this doesn’t change, so I’m very concerned,” Fauci said on Capitol Hill.
Van Johnson, the mayor of the city of Savannah, Georgia, which depends on tourism, announced that he requires the use of masks, and violators are subject to fines of $ 500.
Savannah, with a population of 145,000, becomes one of the first cities in Georgia to take that step. Republican Governor Brian Kemp has largely banned local governments from imposing stricter rules than those in the state.
After speaking with the governors of Arizona and Texas, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said Tuesday that his state will control previously established rules for bars and nightlife. According to the modifications, bars that had been allowed to operate at 25% of their capacity will be closed for in-person service if they do not serve food.
The new round of closings across the country is likely to lead to yet another increase in layoffs.
Nikki Forsberg said she relies on government loans to keep the Old Ironhorse Saloon, the only bar in Blanco City, Texas Hill Country, afloat after it was closed for two months from mid-March and then closed. again on Friday by the governor. order.
He said the money was so tight for some of his eight employees during the first shutdown that he told them to go to the bar and get what they needed: cash, toilet paper, even one of the refrigerators.
“That’s how desperate he became,” he said. “By the time we reopened, we had stripped the bar of all the liquor-free inventory.”
Health officials say the next few weeks will be critical in Florida. On July 4, the reopening of Walt Disney World on July 11 and the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville in late August promise to draw crowds and create the potential for spread from person to person.
While cities like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Saint Petersburg, and Sarasota have mandatory masks, some people in Florida have been resistant.
In the retirement community at The Villages near Orlando, tension has developed between residents who wear masks and those who don’t. And the divide has been along political lines.
Ira Friedman, who along with his wife, Ellen, is active in the local Democratic Party, said that at first, he would only do an exaggerated cough to express his point of view if he saw someone without a mask. But he said he has become more vocal about it as the number of cases has increased.
“Unfortunately, we did not find that Republicans follow the same protocols as we do,” said his wife.
Elsewhere, the European Union will reopen on Wednesday to visitors from 14 countries, but not the United States, which has banned most Europeans. The EU also kept its ban on visitors from China and countries like Russia, Brazil and India, where infections are on the rise.
Americans represent a large part of Europe’s tourism industry, and summer is a key period. More than 15 million Americans travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans cross the Atlantic.
“Americans were 50% of my clientele,” said Paola Pellizzari, owner of a mask and jewelry store on the island of Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris and running her trade association. “We cannot replace that clientele with another.”
Across the English Channel, things are also reversing in places.
Britain re-imposed a blockade on Leicester, a city of 330,000 residents that authorities said accounted for 10% of all new coronavirus cases in the nation last week. Stores closed their doors and schools prepared to send children home.
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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters from around the world contributed to this report.
