Los Angeles
/Phoenix
With a rapid rise in new corona infections, several U.S. states are putting the brakes on the easing of corona requirements. In Arizona, for example, bars, fitness centers and cinemas have to close again. Governor of the southwestern U.S. state, Douglas Ducey, said Monday that events with over 50 attendees are now banned again, just a week after U.S. President Donald Trump’s big appearance in Arizona.
Ducey’s order is initially valid until the end of July. “We expect our numbers to deteriorate,” the governor said at a press conference, according to US media. The state, with a population of just over seven million, has around 75,000 confirmed coronavirus infections to date. Recently, the number of new infections had risen rapidly – just like in the southern states of California, Texas and Florida.
For the coming holiday weekend, the beaches in the Los Angeles district will be closed in Southern California. Bicycle paths, parking lots and piers are also not accessible from Friday to Monday, the district said on Monday evening. The traditional fireworks for the national holiday (July 4th) were also canceled. In Los Angeles County alone, with around ten million inhabitants, almost 3,000 new coronavirus infections were recorded on Monday – the highest number in a single day since the pandemic began. More than 100,000 cases have been reported in the district since March. California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered parts of the state to close again on Sunday. The decree applies to seven districts, including the metropolis of Los Angeles. California had adopted corona restrictions as a precaution very early on, but was slowly loosening them recently.
After closing for two months, the beaches in Los Angeles were reopened in mid-May for sports activities such as swimming or jogging.
Newsom had ordered a mask requirement for the west coast state with almost 40 million inhabitants in mid-June. According to this, Californians must wear a mouth-nose protective mask in public, for example when shopping, driving a bus or at work.
Even in parts of Florida, the beaches should remain closed. In the city of Jacksonville, where the US Republicans plan to hold their party convention in August, masks are now to be worn in public buildings where distance requirements cannot be met. Trump’s Republicans had partially moved their party convention to Florida because of too strict corona requirements in North Carolina. The state of Nevada postponed the next stage of its easing from Monday to late July.
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