Leaders in U.S., Europe divided on response to surging virus

Virus cases are surging across Europe and several U.S. states, but responses by leaders are miles apart, with officials in Ireland, France, and elsewhere imposing curfews and restricting gatherings even as some U.S. governors resist mask mandates or even more aggressive measures.

The stark contrasts in efforts to contain infections come as outbreaks on both sides of the Atlantic raise similar alarms, including the shrinking option of hospital beds and rising deaths.

Governors of states including Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and North Dakota are all facing calls from doctors and public health officials to require masks.

In Utah, a spike in cases since school reopened has generated a dynamic that Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has called “unsustainable.”

But schools remain open and Herbert, who has been pressured by an outspoken contingent of residents against masks, has resisted a statewide mandate. Instead, he announced last week that they would be needed only in six counties with the highest infection rates while leaving it to others to create their own rules. Meanwhile, many hospitals are being pushed to the breaking point.

“We are not simply managing COVID. We are also managing heart attacks and strokes and respiratory failure and all those other things that require ICU-level care," said Dr. Kencee Graves, chief medical officer for inpatient care at the University of Utah Health hospital in Salt Lake City. The hospital's intensive care unit was filled by the finish of the other day, forcing the reopening of a backup intensive care unit.

“The sooner we look after one another, wear masks, physical distance, the earlier we can involve some gatherings in a safe way,” Graves said.

In Oklahoma, where in fact the number of people hospitalized for the virus has reached record levels, doctors have called on officials to accomplish more.

“We need nose and mouth mask mandates to protect more of our Oklahoma citizens,” Dr. George Monks, the president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, said in a tweet Sunday.

But Gov. Kevin Stitt has said repeatedly he does not have any plans to do so, citing concerns about how precisely such a mandate would be enforced.

Oklahoma health officials reported an archive high of 821 people hospitalized Tuesday with the virus or under investigation for the infection. Wyoming also reported a record lot of patients hospitalized for the virus.

New virus cases in the U.S. have surged in recent weeks from a daily average of about 42,000 in early October to about 58,000 - the best level since late July, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In another of the most troubling outbreaks, 10 residents of a nursing home in northwest Kansas have died from the virus, health officials said. All 62 residents of the Andbe Home in Norton County, in addition to an unspecified number of employees, have tested positive for the infection.

The surge in new cases prompted a change of heart Monday from the mayor of North Dakota's greatest city, and only a mask mandate.

Tim Mahoney, who not only is it Fargo’s mayor can be a general surgeon, has been largely supportive of Republican Gov. Doug Burgum’s approach of leaving management of the virus to local officials.

Mahoney, himself, cast the deciding vote against a mask mandate at a recent meeting of city officials. But with North Dakota leading the country in new cases or more to 1 in four city residents now testing positive, Mahoney said a statewide change is in order.

The dynamic contrasts sharply with Europe, where national officials are battling an identical spike with measures including new lockdowns and smart phone programs that track the virus’ spread.

In Ireland, Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced a lockdown starting at nighttime Wednesday that may close all non-essential stores, limit restaurants to carryout service and require people to remain within three miles (five kilometers) of their homes, while banning visits to other households.

It marks a near-return to restrictions imposed by the government in March, although schools, construction sites and manufacturing industries will remain open. If people adhere to the restrictions, which is set up until Dec. 1, the country will be able to celebrate Christmas “in a meaningful way,” Martin said.

But as cases surge, some decisions by European leaders to impose new restrictions are facing stiff opposition at the local level. After a tense faceoff, Britain’s government said Tuesday it had failed to reach agreement with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has rejected tough new measures without money to support the staff and businesses which will be most affected.

Britain’s Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick expressed disappointment with Burnham, saying the mayor ”has been unwilling to take the action that is required to achieve the spread of the virus under control.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday he would impose the restrictions, drawing criticism from Burnham.

“It cannot be to close people’s workplace, to shut somebody’s business, without giving them proper support,” Burnham said. He said Manchester had sought 90 million pounds ($117 million) from the national government to greatly help people get through the wintertime. It was unclear just how much metropolis would receive.

In the Netherlands, which has among the highest infection rates in Europe, a judge in The Hague rejected an appeal by a lot more than 60 Dutch bars and restaurants to overturn a government four-week closure order.

Lawyer Simon van Zijll, representing the bars and restaurants, warned in court that the Dutch hospitality industry faces “a tidal wave of bankruptcies” caused by the lockdown order, which he referred to as “random and disproportionate.”