Locally targeted measures used in virus fight
Also, N.Y. might have to further limit visits
NEW YORK — After entire nations were shut down during the first surge of the coronavirus earlier this year, some countries and U.S. states are trying more targeted measures as cases rise again around the world.
New York’s new round of virus shutdowns zeroes in on individual neighborhoods, closing schools and businesses in hot spots measuring just a couple of square miles.
The concept of containing hot spots isn’t new, but it’s being tested under new pressures as authorities try to avoid a dreaded resurgence of illness and deaths, this time with economies weakened from earlier lockdowns, populations chafing at the idea of renewed restrictions and some communities complaining of unequal treatment.
Some scientists say a localized approach, if well-tailored and explained to the public, can be a nimble response at a complex point in the pandemic.
Other scientists are warier.
“If we’re serious about wiping out COVID in an area, we need coordinated responses across” as wide a swath as possible, says Benjamin Althouse, a research scientist with the Institute for Disease Modeling in Washington state.
In a study that has been posted online but not published in a journal or reviewed by independent experts, Althouse and other scientists found that amid patchwork coronavirus-control measures in the U.S. this spring, some people traveled farther than usual for such activities as worship, suggesting they might have responded to closures by hopscotching to less-restricted areas.
Still, choosing between limited closures and widespread restrictions is “a very, very difficult decision,” Althouse notes. “I’m glad I’m not the one making it.”
Meanwhile, New York may have to consider changes to its quarantine rules for out-of-state travelers now that two of its closest neighbors, Connecticut and New Jersey, are on the brink of getting added to the list of places subject to the restrictions.
About three dozen states are now on New York’s must-quarantine list, which targets states averaging 10 or more new cases per day, per 100,000 residents.
The latest data shows that Connecticut hit that threshold Monday, with 11.2 new cases per 100,000 residents. New Jersey and Massachusetts are both above nine cases per 100,000 residents, while New York is at seven per 100,000, twice what it was at the end of August.
“It’s a problem,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at Monday.
In other developments:
■ A lawyer says misdemeanor charges are being dropped against a Michigan barber who defied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and reopened his shop last spring during the coronavirus pandemic. David Kallman said Monday that the case against Karl Manke of Owosso fizzled after the Michigan Supreme Court on
Oct. 2 said Whitmer used an unconstitutional law as the foundation for emergency orders to control the virus.
■ Authorities in South Carolina say they broke up a party where at least 2,000 people were gathered without taking precautions to prevent spreading the coronavirus. Columbia Fire Department spokesman Mike Desumma told The State that the gathering happened Saturday at an apartment complex during the University of South Carolina’s football game.
■ A spike in drunken driving cases in an Alabama county has led to speculation that the stresses associated with the coronavirus pandemic may be behind the increase. Morgan County sheriff’s spokesman Mike Swafford said his department made 43 DUI arrests in the first nine months of 2019. This year the total is 66 through Sept. 30, an increase of almost 54 percent.