U.S. elected leaders clash over masks as new COVID-19 cases set another record

[webfact]

U.S. elected leaders clash over masks as new COVID-19 cases set another record

By Rich McKay and Gabriella Borter

 

Cars line up at a drive-through coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 16, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

 

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Colorado and Arkansas on Thursday joined a growing list of U.S. states requiring face coverings in public to combat a surge in coronavirus infections, after Georgia's governor moved the other way and barred such measures from being imposed at the local level.

 

The conflicting directives over masks came as the United States reported at least 77,000 new COVID-19 cases nationwide on Thursday, a record daily jump in known infections for the seventh time this month, according to a Reuters tally.

 

Texas alone accounted for one in five of the newly reported cases. The rising numbers bore grim consequences for public health authorities on the ground.

 

Facing a looming shortage of morgue capacity in hard-hit areas around Phoenix, Arizona, and San Antonio, Texas, officials said they were bringing in coolers and refrigerated trailers to store bodies of COVID-19 victims.

 

With announcements from Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, a majority of states - 26 out of 50 - have now sided with health experts urging that face masks be mandatory, rather than a matter of personal choice.

 

Bucking the trend, Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, issued an executive order late on Wednesday suspending local face-mask regulations while saying residents were "strongly encouraged" to wear them.

 

Kemp, one of the first governors to ease statewide stay-at-home orders and business closures following the early stages of the U.S. outbreak, suggested that mandating masks would be too restrictive.

 

After Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, Georgia's capital and largest city, said she planned to defy Kemp's order and enforce a mandatory mask ordinance she issued on July 8, Kemp filed suit on Thursday to override her.

 

"This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times," Kemp said in a statement. "I refuse to sit back and watch as disastrous policies threaten the lives and livelihoods of our citizens."

 

Hours earlier, Bottoms, who tested positive for the virus herself last week and is under quarantine, declared the city's mask requirements "enforceable as they stand."

 

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, who issued a mask mandate in his Georgia city on July 1, said on Twitter that Kemp's order demonstrated he "does not give a damn about us."

 

The clash drew mixed reactions from residents.

 

'CHOOSE WISELY'

"We need to wear masks to stop the spread," said Ethan Padgett, 37, a furloughed art museum worker, as he spoke through his face covering outside an East Atlanta Village coffee shop. "If the governor takes it more seriously, people will."

 

But Pat Walker, 54, who was also wearing a mask, said the governor was just encouraging people to do the right thing.

 

"People should have a choice but choose wisely," she said.

 

Mounting evidence of a worsening pandemic sparked a reckoning that has cut across partisan lines on a heavily politicized issue.

 

"The number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are numbers that speak for themselves and indicate that we need to do more," Hutchinson told a news briefing.

 

Starting Monday in Arkansas, individuals must wear face-coverings in all indoor or outdoor settings where they are exposed to non-household members and where social distancing of 6 feet or more is not possible.

 

Colorado's order requires people to cover their noses and mouths in such indoor settings as office spaces and stores, as well as while congregating outside to wait for taxis, buses, ride-shares or other transport services.

 

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, also a Republican, widened his directive to include more circumstances where face masks are obligatory.

 

SIGNS OF RESURGENT VIRUS

As of late Thursday, the novel coronavirus was known to have infected nearly 3.6 million Americans and killed more than 138,000.

 

The resurgence is especially worrisome across the American South and West where officials started loosening economic and social restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

 

On Thursday, Florida, Texas and South Carolina each reported record numbers of COVID-19 deaths for a single day. At least four others hit an all-time high in new infections, led by Texas with more than 15,000 for the day.

 

Thirty states have registered record daily increases in confirmed cases this month, and 14 states have reported a greater number of deaths for a single day in July than ever before.

 

Moreover, the proportion of positive test results among individuals being screened for infection - a metric called the positivity rate - has been trending ominously higher across much of the county.

 

Infectious disease experts consider a rate higher than 5% concerning, and two dozen states have averaged rates above 5% and climbing over the past two weeks, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

 

Many states have had to roll back reopenings aimed at pumping up local economies crushed by the coronavirus shutdowns.

 

New York City, once the country's epicenter, has been slower than others to reopen and continues to see results, Mayor Bill de Blasio told a briefing on Thursday.

 

Only 2% of more than 40,000 city residents screened for infection tested positive on Wednesday, he said, against a national average of 8.8%, rising to more than 20% in some states.

 

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Gabriella Borter in New York; Additional reporting by Maria Caspani, Doina Chiacu, Lisa Shumaker, Peter Szekely and Keith Coffman; Writing by Sonya Hepinstall; Editing by Howard Goller, Rosalba O'Brien and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-17

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[robblok]

The US is really doing badly, that what you get when you choose freedom over lockdown. I bet the anti maskers will be here soon enough that its all a hoax and the US is doing a great job.

 

Thirty states have registered record daily increases in confirmed cases this month, and 14 states have reported a greater number of deaths for a single day in July than ever before.

 

I don't see the US recovery anytime soon, too many stubborn people.  Sometimes that is a good habit but not in this case. 

 

I wonder how much worse its going to get.. love to see how Trump denies it all again. I mean morgues overflowing. Maybe should have a split screen video in one part Trump denying the virus and the other an interview about morgues overflowing. 

[Phoenix Rising]

"Colorado and Arkansas on Thursday joined a growing list of U.S. states requiring face coverings in public to combat a surge in coronavirus infections, after Georgia's governor moved the other way and barred such measures from being imposed at the local level.

 

Just when you thought you'd seen all the episodes of Dumb & Dumber along comes something like this....

 

 

PS. I edited the text with bold and underline.

[animalmagic]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

After Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, Georgia's capital and largest city, said she planned to defy Kemp's order and enforce a mandatory mask ordinance she issued on July 8, Kemp filed suit on Thursday to override her.

 

"This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times," Kemp said in a statement. "I refuse to sit back and watch as disastrous policies threaten the lives and livelihoods of our citizens."

How does wearing a mask adversely affect business owners and employees?  How does it threaten the lives or livelihoods of the citizens?

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"People should have a choice but choose wisely," she said.

Are we still talking about masks or the November election?

[Eric Loh]

Almost 6 months since the first death from covid-19 and US still struggling with the need to wear mask. What a dysfunctional government and leadership. Really a laughing stock of the world; well except Brazil.   

[Dumbastheycome]

13 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

How does wearing a mask adversely affect business owners and employees?  How does it threaten the lives or livelihoods of the citizens?

 

Are we still talking about masks or the November election?

Yes !

[natway09]

Americans are just following their "Supreme Goose Leader" & refuse to be told or inconvenienced.

The business people will gain by mask wearing as without they may have to close again,

this time forever

[Jonnapat]

So sad and utterly ridiculous that the wearing of masks for health protection should be turned into a political issue.

[ncc1701d]

I think the yanks are way beyond trying to contain this now. Too little too late.

[stevenl]

5 minutes ago, ncc1701d said:

I think the yanks are way beyond trying to contain this now. Too little too late.

Wear masks, test, track and trace, isolate and I think in 4 weeks or so it will be contained.

[Tug]

That Georgia governor brings groveling and ass kissing to a whole new level what a dumb thing to do guess they are all going to go down in flames to bad they will kill others along the way 

[welovesundaysatspace]

Let Darwin do his job then. Post-Covid world will be a world with less fools who vote for even greater fools. 

[stevenl]

41 minutes ago, Tug said:

That Georgia governor brings groveling and ass kissing to a whole new level what a dumb thing to do guess they are all going to go down in flames to bad they will kill others along the way 

And now he is suing the Atlanta mayor over this, claiming she lacks authority.

Sad.

[cantata]

Americans Increasingly Dislike How Republican Governors Are Handling The Coronavirus Outbreak

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, governors have generally received better marks for the way they’ve handled the crisis than President Trump has. However, new polling suggests that may be changing, especially for Republican governors in states where the number of coronavirus cases has spiked in recent weeks.

Gallup recently found that Americans in the 26 states governed by Republicans are souring on their leaders’ approach to the public health crisis, while sentiment remains steadily positive among residents of the 24 states governed by Democrats.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-increasingly-dislike-how-republican-governors-are-handling-the-coronavirus-outbreak/

[ncc1701d]

8 hours ago, stevenl said:

Wear masks, test, track and trace, isolate and I think in 4 weeks or so it will be contained.

Too many think there like the attached picture:

 

 

[candide]

3 hours ago, cantata said:

Americans Increasingly Dislike How Republican Governors Are Handling The Coronavirus Outbreak

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, governors have generally received better marks for the way they’ve handled the crisis than President Trump has. However, new polling suggests that may be changing, especially for Republican governors in states where the number of coronavirus cases has spiked in recent weeks.

Gallup recently found that Americans in the 26 states governed by Republicans are souring on their leaders’ approach to the public health crisis, while sentiment remains steadily positive among residents of the 24 states governed by Democrats.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-increasingly-dislike-how-republican-governors-are-handling-the-coronavirus-outbreak/

It's more obvious on the graph from your source. How can anyone be stupid enough to still follow Trump on any subject?