New York State, one of the most affected by the coronavirus epidemic in the United States, has decided to extend the confinement, for lack of a sufficient drop in hospitalizations. Other states are moving forward, such as Georgia, which authorized the reopening of its restaurants on Monday, April 27.
The Democratic governor of New York State, hit hard by the epidemic with more than 292,000 confirmed cases out of a total of American cases now close to one million, reiterated on Monday that it was necessary to act “with intelligence” not to not risk seeing the epidemic take off again.
Thus, Andrew Cuomo announced that he would extend the containment measures “in many areas of the state” beyond May 15, although a reopening of the construction and manufacturing sectors is envisaged in the less affected areas. New York still deplores 337 deaths from the disease in the past 24 hours.
New York still far from deconfinement
New York City, the economic engine of the United States, has been at a standstill since mid-March. One in four people may have contracted the virus, according to a study. The city therefore risks being the last to restart. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has also indicated that he would close at least 65 km of urban roads within a month in order to facilitate social distancing for New Yorkers who would take advantage of the spring to go for a walk.
The pandemic also prompted that state’s electoral commission to cancel the Democratic primary for the US presidential election scheduled for June. Even though Joe Biden is now the only Democrat in contention, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders has found the move scandalous.
New Jersey, neighboring New York State and the second most affected state with more than 6,000 dead, as well as the region of the federal capital Washington or California also remain firm in their containment.
Half a dozen states reopen their businesses
More than half a dozen states already have started to partially “reopen” their economy. The Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, was one of the most aggressive, reopening some businesses on Friday before authorizing the reopening of restaurants on Monday, April 27, with protective measures for both employees and customers.
Tennessee, another southern state led by a Republican, Bill Lee, also authorized the reopening of restaurants on Monday. On the Texas side, Governor Greg Abbott announced that shopping centers, cinemas and museums could reopen on May 1, at 25% of their capacity.
Alaska, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Mississippi, Colorado and South Carolina are also resuming activity. However, many governors continue to deplore an insufficient testing capacity to revive the economy without relaunching the epidemic.
While Harvard researchers estimated that the majority of states still lacked sufficient capacity to start deconfinement by May 1, Donald Trump assured Monday that this capacity had already doubled and would “double again very soon”.
