A recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the hardest-hit United States has resulted in a series of new restrictions across the country, with North Dakota being the youngest state to require face-covering in public.
The state of Great Plains, which borders Canada in the north, was the 35th state in the United States to impose a face mask rule as a surge in hospital stays threatens to overwhelm the health network once again in what is considered the third major wave of infections.
“Our situation has changed, and we have to change with it,” North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum said in a statement Friday after the state of just over 760,000 people listed the country in the new daily COVID for days. 19 cases per capita.
If our COVID-19 situation changes, we have to change with it. Tonight we announced four actions to help reduce the spread of infections in our communities, protect our vulnerable, ensure hospital capacity, and keep schools and the economy open. pic.twitter.com/Chrifpyedh
– Governor Doug Burgum (@DougBurgum) November 14, 2020
The US has seen a steady increase since early November, and 184,514 people tested positive for the disease on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. This is the highest single value since the beginning of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the daily average death toll rose from about 828 deaths per day for the seven-day period ending October 30 to 1,047 deaths per day for the period ending November 13. This is evident from an analysis of this data by the Associated Press.
As of Saturday, over 10.8 million COVID-19 cases had been recorded in the United States and 245,000 people died after contracting the coronavirus – the highest in any country in the world.
The North Dakota announcement came as the governors of Oregon and New Mexico imposed near-bans on their states – the most aggressive response by these officials since the outbreak and ensuing spring bans.
“We are in a life or death situation and if we do not act now, we cannot save lives, we cannot continue to save lives and we will absolutely destroy our current health system and infrastructure,” said New The Democratic Governor of Mexico , Michelle Lujan Grisham, said after a two-week stay home arrangement.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown ordered a two-week “freeze” from Wednesday, during which all companies have to close their offices and work from home “as much as possible”.
We are facing perhaps the toughest days of the pandemic.
Our actions over the next two weeks, regardless of where you live in the state, are critical. On December 2nd, we will reassess the progress made and the necessary actions. https://t.co/WKqw2wwvX7
– Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) November 13, 2020
The Democratic governor warned that violations could result in fines or arrests.
“For the past eight months, I’ve been asking Oregonians to follow the letter and spirit of the law and we haven’t made a decision to get law enforcement involved,” Brown said. “Unfortunately at this point we have no other option.”
Governors in other states, including New York, Maryland, Virginia, and Minnesota, have been taking incremental action over the past few days, such as: B. Limiting the size of gatherings and the early closure of businesses, limiting capacity or earlier cessation of alcohol sales.
Restriction fatigue
With tighter lockdowns that began in March and gave way to less stringent measures, U.S. officials are now grappling with citizens who may be less willing to change their way of life.
There are currently no federal coronavirus restrictions in the United States.
Some state officials said the economic impact of a lockdown would do more damage than the disease itself.
In Nevada, Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, has largely argued that a pandemic response should be left to the individual.
Shoppers obey mask rules in Bridgton, Maine [Robert F Bukaty/The Associated Press]”This is a tightrope walk of trying to balance control over the spread of COVID-19, protect our hospitals from surges while not destroying and shutting down our economies,” he said, as reported by the Associated Press.
In Texas, which became the first state to surpass a million confirmed cases this week, Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken one of the toughest measures against new restrictions.
Paxton filed a lawsuit after the city of El Paso shut down non-essential businesses after an increase in hospital stays and deaths forced the city to set up mobile morgues. An appeals court temporarily suspended the El Paso shutdown on Thursday.
Message from the President
President Donald Trump was concerned about statewide mandates and generally stressed the need to reopen the economy more cautiously.
On Friday, Trump, who has yet to admit after losing the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, said there would be no nationwide lockdown during his tenure.
Tony Gerlicz walks to a line to get a COVID-19 test at the Department of Health’s testing site in Santa Fe, New Mexico [Cedar Attanasio/AP]For his part, Biden has supported statewide bans and restrictions, and encouraged everyone to wear masks.
However, it is unclear whether Biden would attempt a nationwide lockdown, a prospect that would be politically charged and risk further dividing a nation the former vice president promised to unite.
Biden previously told ABC News that he would “listen to scientists” if they advised him to shut down the country and appeared to be withdrawing that claim during a city hall in September. He said, “I don’t think there will be any need.” in order to be able to close the entire economy ”.
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