Experts worry as U.S. virus restrictions are eased, violated

State and PROVIDENCE, R.I.— localoffifficials aroundthe U.S. are rolling back social-distancing rules again after an abortive effffffffffffort over the summer, allowing bars, restaurants andgymstoopen. Fans are gathering mask- free at football games. President Donald Trump is holding crowded indoor rallies.

While some Americans may see such things as awelcome step closer to normal, public health experts warn the U.S. is setting itself up for failure — again.

“Folks are becoming very cavalieraboutthepandemic,” said Mark Rupp, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Nebraska’s governor ended nearly all ofhis state’s restrictions onMonday, even with new cases of the coronavirus on the rise.

“I think it is setting us up for further transmission and more people getting ill and, unfortunately, more people dying,” Rupp said.

The virus is blamed for more than 6.5 million confifififififirmedinfectionsand195,000 deaths in theU. S., by far the highest totals of any country, according to the count kept by JohnsHopkinsUniversity.

While case numbers have fallen froma peak average of 67,000newinfectionsperday in late July to about 36,000 now, the numbers remain staggeringly high. Deaths are running at about 750 a day, down from a peak of over 2,200 in late April.

In recent days, Mississippi has allowed restaurants to expand their customer capacity to 75%. New Jersey reopened gyms and indoor dining at restaurants, thoughwithlimited capacity. Michigan’s governor allowed gymstoreopenandorganized sports to resume. County commissioners in Pinellas

County, Florida, onThursday are set to discusswhether to repeal theirmask ordinance.

Publichealthexpertsnoted that it is safe to resume certain activities in communities where there are lowlevels of infection.

The nation’s top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, appeared viavideoatVermontGov. Phil Scott’s virus briefifing Tuesday and praised the state’s response and its steps to reopen safely. He chalked it up to Vermont’s emphasis on wearing masks, avoiding crowds and taking other simple precautions.

But elsewhere, experts said, case counts are toohigh to resume higher-risk activities, such as going to bars, gyms, theaters andstadiums, participating in close contact sports or eating inside a restaurant.

In most communities in Florida, barswere allowedto reopen at 50 percent capacityonMonday, whilekeeping some precautions in place. But Florida’s three biggest counties— Miami-Dade, Broward and PalmBeach — are keeping their bars closed because of high case numbers.

Eveninplaceswheredrinkingestablishmentshavebeen giventheOKtoreopen, some owners and customers alike are hesitant.

At The Leon Pub, a smoky bar amile up the road from Florida’s Capitol in Tallahassee, theMondaynight crowd was sparse, as it has been for muchof the long, oppressive summer.

“It’sbeencricketsandtumbleweeds,” said bartender Lauren Bryant.

Among the few therewere Allie Preston and her husband. “We’ve been cooped up for a while. It was nice to have normalcy,” she said.