As confirmed coronavirus cases surpass 3 million worldwide, Italy is seeking to gradually reopen its economy next week after the West’s longest lockdown.
U.S. deaths soared in the early weeks of the pandemic, far exceeding the number attributed to covid-19. Confirmed infections in the United States approached 1 million, with more than 55,000 reported deaths.
Some states moved toward re-opening part of their economies.
Some New Yorkers will soon get a break from the state’s stay-at-home order, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
“We want to unpause May 15, when regulations expire statewide,” he said during a news conference. “I will extend them in many parts of the state … but in some parts, in some regions, you could make the case that we should unpause.”
Those regions are likely to have had “less of an issue to begin with,” but local leaders must still try to keep the infection rate low, Cuomo said. New York has been the state hit hardest by the pandemic.
Cuomo, a Democrat, said officials devising reopening measures should ensure that they meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines, consider how industries and businesses permitted to reopen will physically distance and monitor workers, and evaluate the capacity their local health systems will have during the flu season. Local officials should also think about their testing, tracing and isolating facilities, Cuomo said.
New York will have a regional control room to monitor the effects as the economy comes back to life in parts of the state.
“We are turning the valves on reopening,” Cuomo said.
He added that officials are also considering hospitalization rates, antibody and diagnostic testing, and infection rates when devising their reopening plans.
In Ohio, the economy will begin to reopen in phases Friday as the state’s stay-at-home order expires after taking effect March 23, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.
When the pandemic began, DeWine, a Republican, led the nation’s governors toward widespread shutdowns by canceling events before the state even had a confirmed case of the virus and declaring a state of emergency.
In the first phase of the reopening, dentists and veterinarians will be able to start operating, and health-care workers will be allowed to perform elective procedures that do not require an overnight stay.
The next round of reopening, which begins May 4, will allow manufacturing, distribution and construction jobs to start again. General offices can also bring employees back on that day, but DeWine said companies should continue urging employees to work from home wherever possible. Consumer retail stores and services can reopen May 12.
Masks will be required for all employees and customers entering Ohio businesses, DeWine said. Businesses will also be required to conduct daily health assessments, enforce handwashing and social distancing, clean daily and limit capacity to 50% of the fire code-mandated level.
DeWine said he has not made decisions about when restaurants, salons, gyms and other businesses can open or whether summer activities, such as camps, will be able to take place.
“We don’t want to open things up and have to fall back,” the governor said. “We don’t want to see a huge spike in hospitalizations; we don’t want to see a huge spike in cases. The virus is still out there. It’s not going to go away.”
In the West, Colorado and Nevada have joined the league of western governors working to relax stay-at-home orders in their state, according to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, D.
The Western States Pact already includes Washington, California and Oregon. The collective participants agree to prioritize citizens’ health, follow science to make decisions and to work with leaders in their borders.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, D, said in a news release his state already is working actively toward slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus and that the collaboration could be helpful.
“There’s no silver bullet that will solve this pandemic until there is a cure so we must have a multifaceted and bold approach in order to slow the spread of the virus, keep our people safe and help our economy rebound,” he said.
Nevada’s Gov. Steve Sisolak, D, said in a news release he thinks the partnership will be productive to his state’s economic recovery.
In Europe, some of the hardest hit nations updated their tolls:
— France announced 437 additional deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 23,293. The increase of 1.9% was the highest in four days but lower than the outbreak’s suspected peak earlier this month. The number of people in a hospital with an infection fell to 28,055 from 28,217 on Sunday, the French Health Ministry said in a statement. France has had 128,339 confirmed cases.
— Italy saw 333 new deaths, bringing its toll to 26,977, the country’s Civil Protection Agency announced Monday. The country also announced 1,739 new cases, the lowest figure in seven weeks, bringing the total to 199,414. Officials in the country highlighted that the number of patients in intensive care had dropped to 1,956, the lowest in six weeks.
— Britain announced 360 new deaths, bringing its toll to 21,092, though this number includes only deaths in hospitals where the patient tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Also, 4,310 more people tested positive since Sunday, bringing Britain’s total to 157,149. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who returned to work after more than three weeks fighting a coronavirus infection, said it was too early to relax restrictions.
— Spain announced 331 new deaths, bringing its toll to 23,521. There were also 1,831 new infections in the past 24 hours, raising the number of confirmed cases to 209,465.
(c) 2020, The Washington Post · John Wagner, Lateshia Beachum, Adam Taylor, Marisa Iati
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Now that the goal has boruch Hashem been reached to eradicate at least 3 million of the Invisible Enemy, the Deep State / Cabal criminals, the economy will reopen and people will be able to move around freely.