Calif. enacts stricter rules in most counties
Nearly three-quarters of California counties must now operate under the state’s most stringent pandemic restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday, and health officials are considering a statewide curfew.
Indoor dining, gyms and movie theaters, among other businesses, must remain closed or shut down in 41 of the state’s 58 counties. The governor said he is “sounding the alarm” due to “the fastest increase California has seen” since the pandemic began.
Coronavirus cases have doubled across the state in the last 10 days, officials said. Cases rose 51.3% in the first week of November. The state hit 1 million cases last week.
Backlash after Trump adviser tells Michigan to ‘rise up’
Dr. Scott Atlas, a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, faced heavy criticism after he told Michiganders in a tweet to “rise up” in response to new COVID-19 restrictions announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday.
Whitmer held a news conference to announce that, because of the rising rate of infections, she was suspending in-person classes for school and college, as well as indoor dining, for three weeks.
“The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept,” Atlas tweeted shortly after Whitmer’s announcement. The tweet echoed Trump’s controversial call on April 17 to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” in the face of similar restrictions.
Atlas clarified Monday that he was not advocating violence. But many criticized his choice of words regarding a state where armed protesters against coronavirus measures at one time flooded the state Capitol, and where an armed group recently targeted Whitmer in a kidnapping plot that was foiled by the FBI.
65 staffers at the WHO infected
The World Health Organization has recorded 65 cases of the coronavirus among staff based at its Geneva headquarters, including at least one cluster of infections, an internal email obtained by The Associated Press shows. The agency has made public assertions that there has been no transmission at the Geneva site.
About half of the infections were in staff who had been working at headquarters, indicating the agency’s strict hygiene, screening and other measures were not sufficient to spare it from the pandemic.
Costco requires masks or shields for shoppers
Costco will no longer make an exemption for people who say they can’t wear a face covering because of a medical condition. The wholesale club’s updated face mask policy went into effect Monday and requires all members, guests and employees to wear a face mask or a face shield to shop in its nearly 560 clubs nationwide.
“If a member has a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask, they must wear a face shield at Costco,” President and CEO Craig Jelinek wrote in a letter to members.
Minnesota Senate leader tests positive
Minnesota Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka on Sunday announced he has tested positive. The lawmaker said in a statement that he has been in quarantine since experiencing symptoms last Monday and is following the advice of his doctor. He said he expects to make a full recovery. “We have learned a lot about this virus and how to treat it,” Gazelka said. “We must remain cautiously optimistic that we will find a way to live with it.”
Gazelka’s statement said the “blaming and shaming of a positive COVID diagnosis has got to stop” and that some are using a “COVID diagnosis as a political tool to blame just Republicans when community spread is uncontrolled is indicative of failed leadership looking for a scapegoat.”
Catholics in France protest restrictions
Catholic protesters on Sunday demanded French authorities to relax lockdown measures to allow religious services. Gatherings were reported in Versailles, Nantes and other cities. France banned Mass and other religious services for all of November as infections continue to rise. Individuals are still allowed to visit churches and other religious sites to pray.