Home » News » From New York to Vegas – US cities are preparing for the coronavirus

From New York to Vegas – US cities are preparing for the coronavirus

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will close shops, restaurants, theaters and cinemas from Tuesday to slow the spread of the corona virus. Restaurants, bars or cafes could continue to offer delivery services or take-away, the mayor said.

More than 50,000 restaurants in New York are affected. According to the National Restaurant Association, they have annual sales of more than $ 51 billion and employ more than 800,000 people.

Public schools are also to be closed. “I am very, very concerned that we will see this disease spread rapidly and it is time to take more drastic measures,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference on Sunday.

“It is a decision that I made with no joy and much pain.” The schools should not reopen until April 20 at the earliest, but possibly not at all in this school year.

Previously, a few schools had already closed in the New York area, and schools across the country are already closed in some entire US states such as Ohio. With around 1.1 million children and young people, the metropolis of New York has by far the largest public school system in the country. In addition, around 114,000 students are considered homeless, they and many others often receive all of their meals and medical care from the school. An emergency plan should be organized for this and for the children of parents with “essential jobs” for the city such as nurses and doctors, for example.

In Las Vegas, the luxury hotels and casinos “Wynn” and “Encore” will suspend operations from Tuesday evening (local time) for two weeks. After that, the company would reassess the situation, the operator announced to Wynn Resorts. A limited number of employees and managers remain in the hotels to secure and maintain the facility. The company says it will continue to pay all full-time employees during the temporary shutdown.

MGM Resorts is also ceasing its hotels and casinos in Las Vegas until further notice. The casino operations will be closed this Monday, followed by the hotel operations, explains Jim Murren, head of the MGM Group. “This is a time of uncertainty in our country and around the world and we all must do our part to contain the spread of this virus. We plan to reopen our resorts as soon as it is safe and we will become our staff To support guests in every possible way during this time. ” MGM Resorts is currently not accepting reservations for arrivals before May 1st.

The west coast metropolis of Los Angeles also imposed drastic protective measures. Bars, restaurants and nightclubs must close for at least two weeks from Monday, as Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on his Facebook page.

US President Donald Trump called on his compatriots to refrain from panic buying because of the spread of the corona virus. Trump said on Sunday evening (local time) at a press conference in the White House after a telephone call with the bosses of large retail chains to the address of US citizens: “You don’t have to buy that much. Just don’t rush, just relax.”

His interlocutors had promised to ensure supplies for the population. They would keep their businesses open during the crisis.

Trump said people are currently buying “three to five times what they would normally buy”. In response, supermarkets are replenishing their stocks to an extent that will exceed that for the Christmas business. Trump stressed: “There is no need for anyone in the country to hoard basic food.” His interlocutors had asked him to tell the Americans that they should “please buy a little less”.

In the USA – as in other countries affected by the virus – there is a run on toilet paper, disinfectants, long-life foods such as pasta and water. Long queues have formed in front of some supermarkets in the past few days. Some shops limit the sale of goods that are in high demand due to the spread of the coronavirus to a certain number of items.

According to official figures, the number of new corona infections in China remains at a low level. However, there is increasing concern about sick people entering from abroad. As the Beijing Health Commission announced on Monday, there were 14 more deaths and 16 new infections with the lung disease Covid-19 nationwide. Twelve of these were people who were diagnosed after entering China and are therefore listed as “imported cases” in the official statistics.

The capital Beijing tightened its quarantine measures for travelers from other countries. Since Monday, all passengers arriving at the international airport from abroad have to be observed in quarantine centers for two weeks. Before that, quarantine in hotels or at home was also possible.

According to official statistics, a total of 80,860 people in mainland China have been infected with the new corona virus since the epidemic began in December. More than 65,000 have left the hospitals. So far there have been 3,213 deaths in the People’s Republic.

The health authority announced last week that China had passed the peak of the coronavirus spread. To what extent the official statistics reflect the true situation and how high the number of unreported cases is, is unclear.

The number of corona infections recorded daily in South Korea continued to decline. However, in view of the rapid spread of the coronavirus worldwide, the South Korean health authorities also expressed their increasing concern that infected people could enter from abroad on Monday. Local clusters of infections in the country itself continue to represent an increased risk.

According to official information, 74 new infections were found on Sunday. On Saturday, the number had dropped to below 100 for the first time in more than three weeks. The total number of confirmed cases so far rose to 8,236. The number of deaths related to the coronavirus remained at 75.

More than 80 percent of all infections recorded in South Korea are in Daegu and the surrounding region. Most of the new infections were also reported there again. The largest concentration in the country is among followers of the Christian sect Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is strongly represented in Daegu and also has connections to China.

Smaller clusters have recently occurred in other regions, including among employees of a call center in south-west Seoul and among members of a parish church in Seongnam, south of the capital.

South Korea, meanwhile, extended its increased immigration controls to identify sick travelers to all parts of Europe.

– .

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.