San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
U.S. SURPASSES 12M VIRUS CASES; 1M TALLIED IN PAST WEEK
Officials urge public to stay home, avoid gathering for holiday
Total coronavirus infections in the United States have topped 12 million, and cases are approaching 200,000 in a day, as health experts warn of an alarming new stage in the pandemic’s spread while Americans embark on holiday travel that could seed more outbreaks.
A fall wave of the virus ushered in by colder weather is only worsening, outpacing expansions in testing and making new nationwide records routine. The country passed 11 million cases just a week ago, and daily infections are on track to double since Nov. 4, when they exceeded 100,000 for the first time.
As Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious-disease expert, put it recently on MSNBC: “It’s almost exponential when you compare the curves in the spring and the curves in the summer with the inf lection of the curve where we are right now.”
In response to the surge, California was among the states broadening its restrictions. California was set to enact a curfew starting Saturday night in an attempt to keep people away from parties, social mixing and drinking — the kinds of activities blamed for causing infections to soar. The state’s curfew will run from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for most of the state’s residents and last through at least Dec. 21.
“Large numbers of people getting together oblivious of controls — no masks, no social distancing, often indoors — a lot of those things are in fact occurring at night,” said Dr. Mark Cullen, an infectious disease expert who recently retired from Stanford University.
President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is doing “very well” in quarantine after being infected with the virus. Trump Jr. is among more than 12 million Americans who have been infected — and that total also includes the president himself, his wife and his youngest son.
In Texas, overflowing morgues prompted the state’s National Guard to send a 36-member team to El Paso to help morgue workers handle the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths
“The Texas Military will provide us with the critical personnel to carry out our fatality management plan and we are very grateful to them for their ongoing support,” El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said late Friday.
In North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported that three more people who attended large events at the United House of Prayer for All People in Charlotte last month died — boosting the total deaths linked to the church’s events to 12.
Public health contact tracers and other officials have connected more than 200 COVID-19 cases to the church’s events, including people who attended the events and those who came in contact with them, the newspaper reported.
And in Michigan, 61 pastors at Grand Rapids-area churches decided to stop holding in-person worship services, weddings and other big gatherings, largely in response to the pleas of the state’s health care workers, who have been overwhelmed by the surge in new cases
In Illinois, as the state tightened restrictions to combat an alarming surge in cases, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that clergy and bereavement ministers won’t be required to attend graveside services if they are worried that more than 10 people could show up.
In Delaware, Presidentelect Joe Biden said all Americans should be able to attend religious services during the pandemic — as long as they do so safely.
Biden — the second Catholic elected U.S. president — made the statement in response to a reporter’s shouted question as he walked out of church Saturday evening.
Biden was asked whether all Americans should be able to attend religious services during the pandemic and responded: “Yes, safely.”
The developments linked to church gatherings came as officials across the U.S. in cities and towns brace for an event synonymous with large gatherings: Thanksgiving Day.
Health officials are begging people not to travel for Thanksgiving and asking families to resist inviting anyone over to the house who does not already live there.
“Don’t let down your guard, even around close friends and relatives who aren’t members of your household,” Arizona’s health department said on Twitter.