English pubs reopen, but won’t be same
Asking people in English pubs to keep their distance is going to be tough after they’ve had a few of their favorite tipples.
Pub managers will have to be resourceful come Saturday when they and other parts of the hospitality industry in England open their doors to customers for the first time since March 20, provided they meet COVID-19 safety requirements.
Control and Prevention advised Americans who do go to the beach to wear face coverings, though not in the water.
With professional pyrotechnic displays canceled, authorities are bracing for wildfires and injuries caused by Americans shooting off fireworks at home. Sales of fireworks have been booming in what some sellers say may reflect a desire for a little excitement among people cooped up for so long.
Jamie Parrott, a pediatric neurologist in Columbia, S.C., said he intends to stay home with his grandchildren, setting off fireworks and eating hamburgers, because that’s the safer course for older people like him.
“We’ll muddle through,” he said.
Delaware’s governor ordered bars in some beach towns to close, saying people were getting complacent about masks and social distancing. The Lake Erie resort village of Put-in-Bay in Ohio canceled its fireworks after a small number of coronavirus cases were linked to bars on the island. And the New Jersey resort town of Wildwood did the same.
Still, many people are expected to pack the beaches, boardwalk restaurants and amusement parks up and down the Jersey shore.
South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach is one of the nation’s worst hot spots for COVID-19, and officials in several other states blame their outbreaks on vacationers returning from the resort city. On Thursday, the city passed a mask requirement.
“I hate the perception that people have right now, as any city would,” said Mayor Brenda Bethune.
After hearing Michigan’s governor warn about the need to be smart amid an uptick of cases, Mary Halley of Jonesville said her family canceled plans for a weekend outing on Lake Michigan.
“We had some disappointed kids, but we knew as a family we couldn’t do that,” she said. The problem, she said, is that too many people aren’t listening to the experts. “Even in my small, little town, there are lot of people who didn’t comply with the orders,” she said.
Dr. Don Williamson, head of the Alabama Hospital Association, said he is “really, really worried about the Fourth of July.“
“I think that will likely determine the trend for Alabama for the rest of the summer,” he said.