Surge shows no signs of easing across nation

State leaders begin eyeing restrictions as cases skyrocket

This is the dismal reality America faces as the coronavirus continues its unchecked surge around the country: In North Dakota, health care workers with asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus will be allowed to keep working as the number of infected patients outstrips the staff members needed to care for them, the governor said this week.

In multiple states, hospital leaders warned that the spike is straining resources and sidelining the very staffers needed to face growing numbers of sick people.

With little help and scant guidance from a Washington stuck in political limbo, some states and localities rushed to put in place new restrictions aimed at slowing the virus’ spread. Still, almost every metric appeared headed in an ominous direction.

On Tuesday, the country hit another one-day record, logging more than 135,000 new coronavirus cases, along with 1,403 additional deaths. At least five states, including Missouri and Wisconsin, set single-day highs for fatalities. At least five more, including Illinois and Pennsylvania, set single-day highs for new cases. Almost nowhere in the country are caseloads actually subsiding.

Texas on Wednesday became the first state with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and California closed in on that mark at 991,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“We’re now seeing widespread community transmission,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a republican .“more people are getting infected with the virus, more people are being hospitalized and going into intensive care, and more people are dying.”

He announced plans to return the state to restrictions that haven’t been in place for months, including a 50 percent capacity limit on restaurants and a new health advisory urging a 25-person cap on indoor gatherings. Hogan also issued an updated travel advisory, asking residents to avoid nonessential travel to 35 states with high infection rates.

Nearly 62,000 infected Americans currently lie in hospital beds — a number the nation has not experienced since April. More than a dozen states have hit new highs for hospitalizations this month, with many setting records again on Tuesday, according to figures compiled by the Washington Post.

“I’m not sure it disappoints me asmuch as it scares the hell out of me,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. “This is like one huge coronavirus forest fire, andi don’t think it’s going to spare much human wood out there unless we change our behavior.”

More likely, he said, the grim present will grow only darker as the fall wears on. Despite positive news this week, no vaccine will arrive in time to quickly alter the current trajectory.

Osterholm believes the United States will soon see new confirmed cases climb above 200,000 a day — a figure that would have seemed unfathomable when daily infections peaked at roughly 30,000 new cases a day last spring.

“I don’t see anything changing this right now. The behaviors are not changing,” he said. “The deaths will go up precipitously over the course of the next month. It’s going to happen.”

As the numbers climbed, governors and state health departments appealed to their residents to wear masks and maintain social distancing — echoing President-elect Joe Biden’s message to Americans that masks are not partisan.

“Today’s data is alarming,” Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike Dewine, tweeted Tuesday, as he reported another 6,508 cases, 386 hospitalizations and 23 deaths. “Everyone must take this pandemic seriously.”

Iowans also will soon be subject to stricter coronavirus rules, as the state faces a daily case count that has nearly doubled since the first day of the month.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday at a news conference that masks will be required at indoor gatherings of more than 25 people and outdoor gatherings of over 100 people. Groups that congregate at restaurants, bars or other gatherings will be limited to eight people, unless they are all from the same household.

Each participant in a youth or high school sportingevent will be allowed only two spectators, and masks will be required for staff members and customers at personal-services businesses such as hair salons.

The new restrictions are notable for Reynolds, who has resisted implementing a statewide mask mandate since the spring. She stressed Tuesday that Iowa’s restrictions still are less severe than those of many other states.

“Iowa is open for business, and we intend to keep it that way,” she said.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said all restaurants, bars and gyms statewide will have to close at 10 p.m. starting Friday, a major retreat in a corner of the U.S. that had seemingly brought the virus largely under control months ago. He also barred private gatherings of more than 10 people.