Illinois, New York join California in locking down
Across US, shortages of medical gear a concern
Illinois and New York state moved to join California on Friday in ordering nearly all residents to stay in their homes, as governors undertook their most sweeping efforts yet to contain the coronavirus and fend off the kind of onslaught of patients that has caused southern Europe to buckle.
“We’re going to close the valve, because the rate of increase in the number of cases portends a total overwhelming of our hospital system,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Cuomo said that starting Sunday, all workers in nonessential businesses must stay home as much as possible, and gatherings of any size will be banned in the state of over 19 million people. California likewise all but confined its 40 million residents on Friday, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a similar order set to take effect on Saturday for the state’s 12.6 million people.
Exceptions were made for essential jobs and errands, such as buying groceries and medicine, as well as for exercise.
The drastic measures in the U.S. came as gasping patients filled the wards of hospitals in Spain and Italy.
Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe, reported 627 new deaths Friday, its biggest day-to-day rise since the outbreak began, and said new cases also shot up. Italy now has seen over 4,000 deaths – more even than China – and 47,000 infections. The soaring numbers came despite a nationwide lockdown.
The World Health Organization noted the epidemic’s dramatic speed, pointing out that it took more than three months to reach the first 100,000 confirmed cases but only 12 days to reach the next 100,000.
Across the U.S., governors and public health officials watched the crisis in Europe with alarm and warned of critical shortages of ventilators, masks and other protective gear at home.
As promised earlier in the week, President Donald Trump officially invoked emergency wartime authority to try to speed production of equipment.
But while the government has vowed to fix the botched roll-out of widespread virus testing, laboratories reported shortages of test supplies such as swabs and chemical components.
Countries frantically prepared for a deluge of patients in the coming weeks.
In Britain, the government asked 65,000 retired nurses and doctors to return to work. A convention center and hotels in Madrid were being turned into field hospitals for nearly 10,000 patients. France’s military worked to build a makeshift medical center in the hardhit town of Mulhouse. The U.S. readied military hospitals for civilian use, and more than 4,000 National Guard members were deployed in 31 states to help distribute food, scrub down surfaces and help in other ways.
“We’re about to enter into a new way of living here in Los Angeles,” Mayor Eric
Garcetti said as California went into lockdown. “What we do and how we do it and if we get this right will determine how long this crisis lasts.”
On Friday morning, the streets of Los Angeles were quiet but not desolate. Residents walked their dogs or jogged, while some homeless people slept. Cars drove along Figueroa Street, but the usual traffic jams were gone.
Scott Sorensen, who was walking his boxer, Chewie, said he is limiting how much attention he pays to the news so that he is not overwhelmed.
“I remember my great-grandmother describing the Depression,” said Sorenson, 50. “I’m trying to keep it in focus.”
The virus has struck at the very identities of many countries: closing down cafes, restaurants and boulevard life in France, ending la dolce vita in Italy, shutting down England’s pubs and the ceremonial changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, wrecking sales of tulips in Holland and shuttering the Statue of Liberty in the U.S.
Governments are trying to balance locking down residents with the need to keep food, medicine and other essentials flowing.
In Britain, the category of vital workers includes doctors, nurses and paramedics – and also vicars, truckers, garbage collectors and journalists.
In New York, people will be allowed out for grocery shopping, other necessary errands and solitary exercise. They will have to stay at least 6 feet apart.
“These provisions will be enforced,” Cuomo said. “These are not helpful hints.”
Some of the only good news came from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak began and where hospitals were struggling just weeks ago. For the second day in a row, no new infections were reported and only 39 cases were recorded nationwide – all brought from the outside, the government said.
With the crisis waning there, China has begun sending medical supplies to Europe.
The effects of the global economy grinding to a halt took their toll, from millions of unsold flowers rotting in piles in Kenya to the slow emptying of the world’s skies.
The British government unveiled a huge relief package under which the country for the time in its history would help pay the wages of those in the private sector.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged employees to keep working in supermarkets, production sites and other necessary businesses amid stringent movement restrictions.
“We need to keep the country running,” Macron said.
Iran’s official toll of more than 1,400 dead was rising quickly as well amid fears it is underreporting its cases. Tehran accused Washington of helping spread the virus by retaining sanctions that prevent it importing desperately needed medicine and medical equipment.
As the virus strengthened its foothold in Africa, the continent’s busiest airport, in Johannesburg, announced that foreigners will no longer be allowed to disembark.