(New York) In the absence of a sufficient drop in hospitalizations due to the coronavirus, New York and some large American urban areas are resisting the sirens of deconfinement, but other American states are moving forward, such as Georgia, which on Monday authorized the reopening of its restaurants.
Posted on April 27, 2020 at 4:22 p.m.
Updated at 19:24
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The Democratic governor of the State of New York, epicenter of the American epidemic with 292,000 confirmed cases out of a total of American cases now close to a million, repeated Monday that it was necessary to act “with intelligence” not to risk to see the epidemic take off again.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced he will extend lockdown measures “in many parts of the state” beyond May 15, even though a reopening of the construction and manufacturing sectors is being considered in the next few months. less affected areas.
The governor justified his caution by a number of hospitalizations and new cases which fell less quickly than hoped, and still 337 deaths from the disease in the last 24 hours.
New York City, the economic engine of the United States at a standstill since mid-March, where one in four people could have contracted the virus, according to a study, may be the last to restart.
Proof that deconfinement is still a long way off, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated that he would close at least 65 km of urban roads – now deserted – within a month in order to facilitate social distancing for New Yorkers who would benefit from the spring to walk around.
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 decision scandalous.
New Jersey, neighboring New York state and the second most affected state with more than 6,000 dead, as well as the federal capital region Washington or California remain firm in their containment. In contrast, more than half a dozen states have already started to partially “reopen” their economies.
Reopen schools
The Republican governor of Georgia (south), Brian Kemp, was most aggressive, reopening some businesses Friday before authorizing the reopening of restaurants on Monday, with protective measures for both employees and customers.
Kim Kaseta, one of the first customers of the Waffle House restaurant chain in Atlanta on Monday, was delighted.
“It’s an inexplicable feeling, because it’s something that has never happened before,” she told AFP of restrictions on non-essential facilities. “We need human contact,” she said, in front of a masked employee cooking eggs.
Tennessee, another southern state led by Republican Bill Lee, also authorized restaurants to reopen on Monday. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday announced that shopping malls, theaters and museums may reopen at 1is May, at 25% of their capacity.
Other states that are starting to allow a takeover are Alaska, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Mississippi, Colorado, and South Carolina.
Many governors nevertheless continue to deplore an insufficient testing capacity to revive the economy without relaunching the epidemic.
While Harvard researchers on Monday estimated that the majority of states still did not have sufficient capacity to begin deconfinement by 1is May, Donald Trump assured Monday that this capacity had already doubled and would “double again very soon”.
“We have enough (capacity for) tests to” reopen “” the economy, assured the American president during a press briefing in the gardens of the White House.
He notably encouraged the governors to reopen the schools.
“There isn’t much time left before the year ends, but I think we’re going to see a lot of schools reopen,” he said. “It would be a good thing […] because young people are doing well ”in the face of the virus, he added, pleading for a“ rapid ”reopening, but in“ safety ”.
While his chances of re-election could be closely tied to the country’s economic health, the president has promised an “incredible” economic recovery in the last quarter of 2020 and next year.
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