Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas ordered all bars to close on Friday and told restaurants to reduce their operating capacity, in an abrupt reversal of his previous policy as the nation’s second largest state grapples with surging coronavirus cases weeks after reopening.
The move comes just a day after Mr. Abbott, a Republican, put the state’s reopening on pause, while remaining firm that going “backward” and closing down businesses was “the last thing we want to do.”
By Friday, he said, “it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars. The actions in this executive order are essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and protect public health.”
Under the order, bars must close effective 12 p.m. Friday locally, but they can remain open for take out. Restaurants, which had been operating at 75 percent capacity, can remain open, but must reduce capacity to 50 percent.
The changes come as the percent of positive tests in Texas exceeded 10 percent, a benchmark that Mr. Abbott had previously set as a warning sign of a more urgent crisis. Texas set several single-day records for new cases this week, including a high of 6,584 on Wednesday. Tarrant County, which includes Fort Worth, ordered businesses to require customers and employees to wear face masks. The order, which goes into effect on Friday, comes days after a similar policy went into effect in neighboring Dallas County.
The United States on Thursday reported more than 41,000 new cases, a record total for the second straight day, as a nationwide sense of urgency grew and five states — Alabama, Alaska, Montana and Utah — reported their largest daily totals.
California, where stay-at-home orders were imposed particularly early in the pandemic, surpassed 200,000 total cases on Thursday, as its number of infections doubled over the past month. That is the second highest total for any state, though California’s per capita infection rate remains far lower than New York’s.
And in Florida there have been more than 10,000 new cases over the past two days, bringing its total to more than 114,000. Orange County, home to Orlando, is averaging 353 new cases a day, compared with 73 two weeks ago. Across the state, long lines have returned at testing sites that just a few weeks ago were seeing limited demand.
On Thursday, Florida’s governor said that he did not intend to move to the next phase of reopening. Beaches, malls and hotels are open, as well as restaurants at 50 percent capacity, but concert halls, public pools, massage and tattoo parlors are not
Younger people are making up a growing percentage of new cases in cities and states where the virus is now surging, a trend that has alarmed public health officials and prompted renewed pleas for masks and social distancing.
And in a stark reminder of what officials still don’t know about the scope of the outbreak, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Thursday that the number of Americans who have been infected with the virus is most likely about 10 times the 2.4 million cases that have been reported.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/world/coronavirus-live-updates.html