Texas, Florida Get Tough To Curb Spread Of Coronavirus
With new coronavirus cases surging in Texas and Florida, officials on Friday ordered bars to close again and imposed tighter restrictions on restaurants, setting back efforts to reopen their economies.
Governor Greg Abbott gave bars in Texas until midday Friday to shut and ordered restaurants to reduce capacity, while Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation told bars to immediately stop serving alcohol on their premises.
The announcements marked a major step back by both states -two of the early drivers in attempts to re-open the economy – and an acknowledgement that infection figures had grown too worrisome to stand pat.
Florida on Friday announced a startling 8,942 new COVID-19 cases. That number was a leap from the state’s previous record of 5,511 new daily cases, reached on June 24. Total U.S. cases rose 40,751 on Thursday, a record daily increase.
Abbott, a Republican, also told restaurants to limit indoor capacity to 50%, from a previous 75%.
Tish Keller owns the Triple J chophouse in downtown Lubbock. As she welcomed late lunch diners, she said Abbott’s order was a brutal blow for her business.
“We were just getting to where we could pay the bills,” she said. “Taking us back down to 50% capacity means we won’t have enough business to pay staff, let alone the bills.”
Keller said she had no idea how long she could keep her doors open under the renewed restrictions, and dreaded the thought of having to once again try to come back from operating at half occupancy.
The attempts by Texas, Florida, South Carolina and other states at a more complete economic reopening have boomeranged in a resurgence of cases that is changing the nature of the pandemic and likely to test the strength of any broader economic rebound in the United States.
Texas had been at the forefront of states peeling away restrictions designed to control the pandemic. It allowed bars to reopen in May, when revelers flouting social distancing rules celebrated Memorial Day weekend.Tish Keller, owner of the Triple J restaurant, looks out the establishment’s front door, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., June 26, 2020. Keller says a new state order reversing Texas’ economic opening will hobble her business. REUTERS/Brad Brooks
It has since witnessed some of the biggest increases in new cases in the United States, reporting 5,996 on Thursday. The state has seen record numbers of hospitalizations in the last two weeks.
“At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars,” Abbott said in a statement.
Almost 125,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, the highest death toll from the highly infections disease in the world.
Despite the grim news from Texas, Florida and elsewhere, President Donald Trump said the United states was coming back from the coronavirus crisis, which has halted large parts of the economy and left millions jobless.