Six US states report record COVID hospitalisations, new restrictions set up
07 October, 2020
Six states reported record amounts of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, including Wisconsin, where officials on Tuesday issued a fresh order limiting how big is indoor public gatherings.
The surge of COVID hospitalisations and new cases in a few states coincides around President Donald Trump and many members of his White House staff testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Trump's doctors on Tuesday said he had not been displaying any acute symptoms after he left the Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was treated for three days.
The spike in reported hospitalisations on Monday hit states in the Midwest the hardest, with Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming reporting their highest figures, according to a Reuters tally. Wisconsin has 782 hospitalised coronavirus patients, compared with 433 fourteen days ago.
Wisconsin's Department of Health Services issued a directive that gatherings will be limited by only 25 % of an area or building's total occupancy.
"We're in an emergency right now and have to immediately change our behavior to save lives," Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a statement. "We are continuing to see a surge in cases and several of our hospitals are overwhelmed, and I really believe limiting indoor public gatherings can help slow the spread of the virus."
NEW YORK HOTSPOTS
In NY, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced new restrictions as the state has seen new hotspots pop-up in and around NEW YORK, the hardest-hit metropolitan area in america. Among the "intense" cluster areas that will need to apply the governor's strictest new shutdown orders are parts of Brooklyn, Queens and parts of Rockland and Orange Counties.
The new restrictions affect houses of worship the most - those in hotspots are actually required to operate at 25 % of capacity with no more than 10 people. Schools are being closed in a few areas.
Cuomo said that as the new restrictions are essential - these were "only as good as they're enforced, and too little enforcement has contributed to the problem."
"There is absolutely no way we didn't see this coming," Cuomo said.
The news headlines was better farther north - in Maine the governor outlined another reopening steps.
Governor Janet Mills said Maine was getting into the fourth stage of restarting the state's economy, saying that as of Oct. 13, churches, restaurants and cinemas in the state will be permitted to operate at 50 per cent capacity.
In Washington, Republican Trump abruptly ended talks with Democrats on an financial stimulus bill to provide pandemic aid to Americans prior to the November elections, sending the currency markets sliding.
Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump's decision shows he's "putting himself first at the trouble of the united states" with cases rising in the United States. The total number of diagnosed infections can be an estimated 7.5 million and a lot more than 210,600 persons have died in the pandemic, the highest in the world.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
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