“It’s not just about what opens and closes, it’s also about what we do individually. It’s about people who gather outside their homes, with people they might meet. It could be their extended family, they could be Friends. They might think that because they had a test two weeks ago, that’s fine. But it’s not. “
Last week, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also discussed his proposal to the state governor for a two-week shutdown due to the increase in cases. He said the city needed to “re-establish itself,” especially when leaders begin talks about reopening schools.
“People are panicking, thinking I’m about to close Texas again,” he told CNN affiliate KPRC on Wednesday. “The answer is no. That is not the goal.”
The different approaches are just a few examples of conversations between US state and local leaders as cases increase and hospital capacities decrease.
Areas of Colorado that wear masks had less spread of the virus
With most state leaders vowing never to fall again in a second shutdown, many have relied on mask mandates to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“Desiring to keep the economy open, to maximize the ability to return to school in the safest way possible for teachers and students, the mask mandate was really an easy decision after seeing that data,” said Governor Jared. Polis told ABC “This Week”.
Experts have repeatedly highlighted that masks are among the most powerful weapons the country can use against the virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, urged governors and mayors to be “as blunt as possible” for Americans to wear face covers.
But in the city of Miami, officials are duplicating an existing mask order. Starting Monday, residents who do not wear a face mask in public will be fined without first receiving a warning. That fine starts at $ 50 and will increase with each additional crime.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, said it was “strange that we turned the mask into something political.”
“You wonder what is going on here? How could something as basic as public health that we have very strong evidence help, seems to be linked to the people’s political party,” he said.
“This is not a war, but in a way it is, against the enemy called a virus and that virus is very cunning and stealthy.”
These states broke records
Meanwhile, as states navigate their next steps to combat the rapid spread, unwanted records continue to be broken.
- Los Angeles reported the highest number of hospitalizations in a day, with at least 2,216 people hospitalized. More than half of the 2,848 new cases reported Sunday in Los Angeles were in people under the age of 41, authorities said.
- At least two states reported a record increase in single-day cases on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins data. Georgia reported 4,688 new cases for a total of 139,880 statewide, while North Carolina reported 2,522 new cases, reaching 98,092 infections statewide.
- Arizona reported its highest death count since Saturday’s pandemic, with a total of 147 deaths, according to the Covid and Johns Hopkins Monitoring Project. The state’s previous one-day record, set on July 7, was 117 deaths, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
- In Florida, a state that has broken its own record of single-day cases multiple times in the past few weeks, there were at least 49 ICU bedless hospitals available on Sunday, according to data from a state agency.
Older children can transmit viruses as much as adults.
As more states report waves, local leaders are discussing what back to school will be like. President Donald Trump has already said he lobbied governors to ensure a return to classrooms across the country in the fall.
In Arizona, where the governor has indicated he will give more guidance on reopening schools in the coming days, 87 health professionals signed a letter urging the state leader to keep schools closed during the first quarter of the school year.
“We share a common concern: that the tremendous pressure to return to in-person education in August is inadvisable and dangerous given the uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 in our community,” the letter said.
Researchers in South Korea also found that children age 9 and younger transmitted the virus within their home at much lower rates.
“Although the detection rate of contacts for preschool-age children was lower, young children may show higher attack rates when school closes, which contributes to community transmission of Covid-19,” the study said. .
CNN’s Raja Razek, Randi Kaye, Ashley Killough, Andy Rose, Hollie Silverman, Miguel Marquez, Paul Vercammen, Jennifer Selva and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.
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