Arizona to get more help on COVID-19

Vice-president says 500 more medical personnel will head to southwestern state

COVID-19 cases continued to climb in states in the US West and South on Wednesday, and Vice-President Mike Pence said he was instructing the acting Homeland Security secretary to provide 500 additional medical personnel to meet Governor Doug Ducey’s request for extra help.

Earlier this week, 63 medical personnel arrived in Tucson to help.

“Help is on the way, and we’re going to spare no expense to provide the kind of reinforcements that you will need across the state” as the number of infections surge, Pence said during a visit to Arizona and after meeting with Ducey. Both Pence and Ducey wore masks during the vice-president’s brief visit.

The number of novel coronavirus cases also grew worse in California.

The state closed bars, theaters and indoor restaurant dining again across most of the state on Wednesday. The shutdown applies to 19 counties encompassing nearly three-quarters of California’s 40 million people, including Los Angeles County.

Confirmed cases in California have increased nearly 50 percent over the past two weeks, and COVID-19 hospitalizations have gone up 43 percent, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

In Florida, the biggest hospital in the hardest-hit county, Miami’s Jackson Health System, scaled back elective surgeries and other procedures as it and others around the state prepared for an influx of victims.

CNN reported Wednesday that 37 states are seeing increases in the past seven days over the previous week and at least 22 states have rolled back or paused the reopening of businesses.

Cities and towns across the nation canceled their annual Fourth of July fireworks shows for Sunday. As many as 80 percent of displays have been canceled, affecting 150 companies, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s July Fourth celebration on the National Mall — “Salute to America’’ — will still be held and feature one of the largest fireworks displays ever. As many as 300,000 face masks will be given to those who want them.

Trump made no mention of the masks or of the pandemic overall in a tweet Wednesday on his Independence Day plans. He thanked corporate donors for supporting “what will, without question, be a special evening”.

In an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, Trump said he “would have no problem” wearing a mask.

“Actually, I had a mask on. I sort of liked the way I looked, OK?” he said. “Looked like the Lone Ranger. But, no, I have no problem with that. I think — and if people feel good about it, they should do it.”

In New York City, dining-in is out, and Broadway will stay dark for the rest of the year because of the spreading coronavirus.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that New York City won’t resume indoor dining next week as planned.

“Indoors is the problem more and more,” he said at his daily briefing, adding, that “the news we have gotten from around the country gets worse and worse”.

Neighboring New Jersey also called a halt to a restart of indoor dining that was to have gone into effect Thursday.

And the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway theater industry, said that Broadway performances will be suspended through the remainder of 2020 due to COVID-19. Broadway theaters are offering refunds and exchanges for tickets purchased for all performances through Jan 3, 2021, the association said Tuesday.

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ / AP Bartenders wear masks and face shields as they work in Santa Clarita, California. Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered a three-week closure of bars, indoor dining and indoor operations of several other types of businesses in various counties, including Los Angeles, as the state deals with increasing coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.