United States torn by wearing masks and reopening schools as coronavirus cases rise

(Reuters) – Divided Americans deepened discussions about masks mandates and the reopening of schools on Friday, with states and localities choosing conflicting strategies in the face of growing cases of coronavirus.

In the state of Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp sued the Mayor of Atlanta to prevent him from sending masks, while Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, leader of the nation’s third largest school district, presented a plan to offer both in-person instruction as remote about the objection of the teachers union.

With the school ready to resume in a few weeks, school districts across the country have announced a variety of plans to restart teaching amid the pandemic.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has so far allowed school districts in his state of 40 million people to set their own policies, released a new guideline on Friday that schools could begin in-person instruction if they are in counties. that have been kept out of state control. ready for 14 days.

Schools on the watch list should remain closed but can offer remote learning, Newsom said.

Amid the policy patchwork, the United States on Thursday reported a daily world record of more than 77,000 new infections, bringing the total to more than 3.5 million cases, with nearly 140,000 deaths.

Regardless, President Donald Trump has urged a return to normality, stressing the importance of reviving the economy and, at times, rejecting the advice of public health advisers.

A frontline nurse in Florida pleaded with schools not to call students back to class and denounced the lack of personal protective equipment at her hospital, where she said at least six of her coworkers had tested positive for COVID-19.

“I swore an oath as a nurse not to harm. Every time I show up to work with a lack of personal protective equipment, I’m hurting because I’m potentially exposing a patient to COVID, “said Marissa Lee, a labor and delivery nurse at Osceola Regional Medical Center, where she said that by At least two pregnant women in his flat were COVID positive.

According to the National Nurses United union, more than 1,200 medical professionals, including 161 nurses, have died from the coronavirus in the United States.

Lee’s concerns were echoed by the Chicago Teachers Union, which says that classroom instruction is not secure and that classes must be taught remotely.

“There is no sure way to reopen anything during a pandemic,” union president Jesse Sharkey said in a statement.

PLEA OF HEALTH EXPERTS

Public health experts have pleaded with politicians and the public to cover their faces to help stop the spread of the infection amid a broader cultural divide in the United States.

Trump and his supporters have resisted full support for the masks and have been calling for a return to normal economic activity after the pandemic-induced closings.

Chief US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Friday he “would urge leaders – local political leaders in states and cities and towns – to be as forceful as possible so that their citizens wear masks.”

Kemp, a fellow Republican and Trump supporter, said the masks would help curb infections and urged all Georgians to wear masks for at least four weeks on Friday, but said the mandates were not enforceable and suggested they would hamper the economy. .

“Brian Kemp does President Trump’s orders,” Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who tested positive for the coronavirus, told CNN on Friday. “More than 130,000 people in our state have tested positive for COVID-19. More than 3,100 people have lost their lives and … this governor is taking money from taxpayers to sue me personally. ”