U.S. throws precautions to wind
COVID-19 ‘behavioral disease’ fuels case explosion nationwide
Fourth of July gatherings, graduation parties, no-mask weddings, crowded bars. There are reasons the U.S. has racked up more than 155,000 coronavirus deaths and is fast approaching 5 million confirmed infections.
Many Americans have resisted wearing masks and social distancing, calling such precautions an overreaction or an infringement on their liberty.
Public health experts say the problem has been compounded by confusing and inconsistent guidance from politicians and a patchwork quilt of approaches to containing the scourge by governments at the county, state and federal levels.
“The thing that’s maddening is country after country and state after state have shown us how we can contain the virus,” said Dr. Jonathan Quick of the Duke Global Health Institute. “It’s not like we don’t know what works. We do.”
The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has topped 4.7 million, with the number of new cases running at more than 60,000 a day.
In Massachusetts, health officials are investigating at least a half-dozen new clusters of cases connected to such events as a lifeguard party, a high school graduation party, a prom party, an unsanctioned football camp and a packed harbor cruise trip.
Hot spots around the U.S. are popping up in what once seemed like ideal places to ride out the outbreak: rural, less populated and with lots of outdoor space.
In South Dakota, a spike erupted at a Christian youth summer camp in the Black Hills, with the number of cases growing to 96 among 328 people who attended.
“We’re at a point where there’s enough spread of COVID-19 that people throughout the U.S. are at an increased likelihood of encountering the virus and getting exposed,” University of Florida epidemiologist Dr. Cindy Prins said.
She added: “This is a behavioral disease right now for a lot of people.”
In Virginia, the number of cases has surged so much in cities like Norfolk and Virginia Beach that Gov. Ralph Northam placed limits there last week on alcohol sales and gatherings of more than 50 people.
Northam, the nation’s only governor who is a doctor, cited a rise in infections among young people and said the problem is that “too many people are selfish.”
In other developments:
In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced a statewide order requiring the wearing of masks because of a resurgence of the virus. He also delayed the start of the school year for upper grades in eight hard-hit counties.
New York City replaced its top public health official Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot is leaving. She’ll be replaced by Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, an official and primary care physician in the city’s public hospital system.
A group of voters sued Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials Tuesday to try to block a requirement that voters wear face masks at polling places.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he’ll continue the statewide mask mandate and business restrictions for at least three more weeks. The rules were set to expire Friday.
The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the governor’s authority to fine businesses as much as $5,000 per day for violations of emergency health orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.