In the United States, deconfinement is progressing, as is the virus

It’s a risky bet. Texas reopened restaurants and malls Friday after the deadliest day in coronavirus in the state: a paradox that sums up the situation in the United States, where deconfinement is gaining ground without the epidemic having started a real ebb, with 35,000 new cases and nearly 2,000 deaths on Friday.

With Texas, the most important to restart at the same time by its size, its population and its economy, it is nearly half of the 50 American states – mainly those led by republican governors – who have started or are about to raise restrictions.

Almost half of the US states (dark and light green) have partially lifted (or will do so) the restrictions in place, with +35,000 new cases of coronavirus and nearly 2,000 daily deaths this Friday (map @nytimes) pic.twitter.com/XaLURMpmd1

– Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) May 2, 2020

25% of authorized customers

In Houston, The Galleria, the largest shopping mall in Texas, has started to welcome customers again, but in small numbers, and many of the stores have remained closed. Stores, restaurants and cinemas must limit customers to 25% of their capacity. On the program in restaurants: plexiglass barriers around the bar, tablecloths, cutlery and disposable menus, and gloved and masked employees.

Increasingly impatient, six months away from the presidential election, to see the economy emerge from the hibernation into which the measures to stem the virus have plunged it, Donald Trump hailed the reopening decided by the republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. The American president, on the other hand, attacked that of Michigan, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, Friday, the day after the irruption in the Capitol of this State badly affected by the illness of armed demonstrators demanding the relaxation of the restrictions. “The governor of Michigan should drop ballast and put out the fire. These are great people, but they are angry, “tweeted the Republican billionaire.

In California, several hundred people demonstrated at Huntington Beach against the closure of the beach imposed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.

Meanwhile 30 minutes from my home: a few hundred demonstrators protest against the closure of the beach in Huntington Beach, with signs “surfing is not a crime”, “Trump 2020” and Newsom “tyrant / fascist ” https://t.co/QeeJjwn8oQ pic.twitter.com/01TAPrInr5

– Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) May 1, 2020

An authorized antiviral

However, Texas does not meet the criteria set out only two weeks ago by Donald Trump for a restart of the country. The southern state on Thursday registered 1,000 new cases and 50 deaths from Covid-19, the heaviest daily toll since the start of the epidemic, for a total of nearly 800 deaths. The numbers remained high on Friday (34 deaths, 1,142 new cases).

The White House estimates that there must be a decrease in cases over 14 days before a gradual resumption of activities. A trend that has not been seen in Texas, or in several of the other American states that have, to varying degrees, begun their deconfinement. Above all, at the national level, the statistics remain bleak. With 1.1 million cases and more than 64,300 deaths, the country is the most bereaved in the world by the pandemic. And the spread continues at a steady pace, with regular reports of more than 30,000 new cases and more than 2,000 deaths daily.

The United States has been blocked since the beginning or the middle of April on this “plateau” from which it is struggling to descend. The White House has high hopes for the antiviral remdesivir, which received a green light from the US health authorities on Friday for emergency use after an encouraging trial for the recovery time of patients.

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