RATHER SAFE... California locks down varsity

WEST COAST: EXPERT WARNS OF NEW OUTBREAKS

Los Angeles also extends ban on reopening for another 3 months.

California’s state university system, the largest in the US, cancelled classes on Tuesday for the fall semester because of the coronavirus, while Los Angeles County said its stay-at-home order was likely to be extended by three months.

The announcements on the West Coast came after the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, told Congress lifting the sweeping lockdowns could touch off new outbreaks of the illness, which has killed nearly 81 000 Americans and devastated the economy.

In one of the first indications the pandemic will continue to have a significant impact into autumn, the chancellor of California State University said classes at its 23 campuses would be canceled for the semester that begins in September, with instruction moved online.

“Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in person, as is the traditional norm of the past, is a place where over 500 000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity with each other on a daily basis,” the chancellor, Timothy White, said.

“That approach, sadly, just isn’t on the cards now.”

Los Angeles county health director Barbara Ferrer added her own grim forecast, saying stayat-home curbs for 10 million residents, including Los Angeles, would probably remain in place through the summer.

“While the safer at home orders will remain in place over the next few months, restrictions will be gradually relaxed,” under a planned reopening of the local economy as the outbreak ebbs, she said.

Her remarks came after California Governor Gavin Newsom said restaurants in parts of the state could again begin allowing diners inside under modified conditions and outdoor shopping malls could be permitted to open for curbside pickup.

Offices in parts of California can also open with some limitations, Newsom told a daily news briefing. But his latest plan for restarting the world’s fifth-largest economy keeps nail salons, tattoo parlors and fitness clubs closed.

“It’s a mistake to overpromise what reopening means,” said Newsom.

Fauci urged states to follow health experts’ recommendations to wait for signs of improvement, such as a significant decline in new infections. –

Picture: AFP Statues of the wear masks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil has emerged as the epicentre of the pandemic in Latin America, with 11 519 deaths.