Reopening guidelines dodged, study says
Many governors across the U.S. are disregarding or creatively interpreting White House guidelines for safely easing restrictions and letting businesses reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, an Associated Press analysis found.
The AP determined that 17 states did not meet a key benchmark set by the White House for loosening up — a 14-day downward trajectory in new cases or positive test rates. And yet many of those have begun to reopen or are about to do so, including Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.
Because of the broad way in which the nonbinding guidelines are written, other states, including Georgia, have technically managed to meet the criteria and reopen despite not seeing a steady decline in cases and deaths.
Asked Thursday about states that are reopening without meeting the benchmarks, President Donald Trump said, “The governors have great power as to that, given by us. We want them to do that. We rely on them. We trust them. And hopefully they are making the right decisions.”
The push to ease state lockdowns comes amid pressure from businesses that are collapsing by the day. Over 33 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits over the past seven weeks, and a report today is expected to show U.S. joblessness as high as 16%, a level not seen since the Depression.
AROUND THE GLOBE
Elsewhere around the world, the Bank of England projected that Britain’s economy will shrink by 14% this year, its biggest decline since 1706, when Europe was embroiled in the War of the Spanish Succession.
The United Nations urged governments, companies and billionaires to contribute to a $6.7 billion appeal to fight the coronavirus in poor countries, warning that failure to help could cause a “hunger pandemic,” famine, riots and conflict. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said the initial $2 billion appeal launched March 25 was being increased because of the worsening situation.
The economic woes have affected even brand-name businesses, with Neiman Marcus filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the first U.S. department store chain to be toppled by the outbreak.
The reopening debate in the U.S. echoes that underway in Europe, where rehave gional and political rifts are emerging over how fast to lift the lockdowns.
The U.S. has recorded over 75,000 deaths and 1.2 million confirmed infections. But this week, University of Washington researchers nearly doubled their projection of deaths in the U.S. to about 134,000 through early August, largely to reflect the loosening of stay-at-home restrictions.
When Trump announced the guidelines April 16, he declared a “new front in our war” and said he was “establishing clear scientific metrics and benchmarks on testing, new case growth and hospital capacity that must be met before advancing each phase.”
Since then, many states reopened while daily cases and positive test rates have either plateaued or continued to climb, the AP analysis found. Some states are going it alone, using their own criteria.
STATES AGGRESSIVE WITH REOPEN
The White House has not been specific about how states should calculate the 14-day downward trajectory. Depending on how that’s done, a state might pass or fail. The AP analyzed counts of tests and confirmed cases compiled by Johns Hopkins University and looked at the numbers using a rolling seven-day average to account for day-to-day variability in test reporting.
In Nebraska new cases and positivity rates increased in recent weeks, but Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, eased rules to allow salons, tattoo parlors and restaurants to reopen with restrictions in most counties. Churches also were allowed to resume in-person services, weddings and funerals on Monday, with some restrictions.
Ricketts said Wednesday that the number of new cases is naturally going to increase as the state ramps up testing, and suggested that a state lockdown was too drastic a measure.
“We could ban just about all deaths on the interstate by reducing the speed to 5 mph, but we don’t do that,” he said.
Georgia has the most aggressive reopening schedule in the country.
The state recorded a decrease in positivity rates, but it has seen nearly 600 more deaths and an emerging hotspot in a poultry-processing area since restrictions were loosened.
Utah is following its own color-coded reopening system.
“We had that plan long before there was a federal plan,” said Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, who heads Utah’s response. “It’s a solid plan that lays out the road to recovery.”
Of the 33 states that have had a 14-day downward trajectory of either cases or positive test rates, 25 are partially opened or moving to reopen within days, the AP analysis finds.
Nevada Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak said Thursday that the state has had 14 days of declining hospitalizations and positive test rates and will begin allowing restaurants, salons and other non-essential businesses to open starting Saturday.
Other states such as Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin, which have not seen a 14-day decline, remain closed despite meeting some benchmarks. Oregon is moving to reopen select businesses May 15 in the least affected parts of the state.