• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us

For all official information and updates regarding COVID-19, visit the South African Department of Health's website at www.sacoronavirus.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home World

As US coronavirus death toll tops 51 000, handful of states move toward reopening

25 April 2020, 8:38 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Late on Thursday, Trump sparked fresh confusion over prospects for COVID-19 treatments, suggesting scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectants or being bathed in ultraviolet light.

Late on Thursday, Trump sparked fresh confusion over prospects for COVID-19 treatments, suggesting scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectants or being bathed in ultraviolet light.

Image: Reuters

Late on Thursday, Trump sparked fresh confusion over prospects for COVID-19 treatments, suggesting scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectants or being bathed in ultraviolet light.

With the US coronavirus death toll topping 51 000 and nearly one in six workers out of a job, Georgia, Oklahoma and several other states took tentative steps at reopening businesses on Friday, despite disapproval from President Donald Trump and medical experts.

Fitness clubs, hair salons, tattoo parlors and some other workplaces were allowed to open their doors by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, disregarding warnings from public health officials that easing restrictions too soon could lead to more infections and deaths.

Georgia, one of several states in the Deep South that waited until early April to mandate restrictions imposed weeks before across much of the rest of the country to curb the outbreak, has become a flashpoint in the debate over how and when the nation should return to work.

While the COVID-19 illness is killing thousands of Americans daily, stay-at-home orders and business closures have thrown more than 26 million people out of work, a level of unemployment not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“We’ve been hurting real bad,” said Lester Crowell, co-owner and manager of the Three-13 hair salon in suburban Atlanta, which reopened after 33 days. “I had to dip into my own bank account to keep the lights on here.”

A dozen customers lined up outside the salon, each standing 6 feet apart. Before they could enter, staff members took their temperatures and asked if anyone had a cough, a recent fever, or a housemate who had been sick or quarantined.

Despite the lost revenue, not all eligible merchants in Georgia jumped at the chance to resume business. Shay Cannon, owner of Liberty Tattoo in Atlanta, said he would reopen in May by appointment only and did not foresee a return to normal until June or later.

“We’re just watching the numbers and doing what seems right to us,” Cannon told Reuters.

The US death toll from COVID-19, the highest in the world, surpassed 51 000 on Friday, having doubled in 10 days, according to a Reuters tally, and the number of Americans known to be infected surpassed 900 000.

OTHER STATES REOPENING

Georgia was not alone in reopening.

Oklahoma was permitting some retailers to resume business on Friday, Florida began reopening its beaches a week ago, South Carolina started easing restrictions on Monday, and other states will follow suit next week.

Trump, who had staked his November re-election on the nation’s booming economy before the pandemic, has given mixed signals about when and how the country should begin to get back to work.

Last Friday, a day after the White House issued federal guidelines urging a gradual, cautious approach advocated by health experts, he called for several Democratic governors to “liberate” their states from economic restrictions. But in a reversal this week, he publicly criticized fellow Republican Kemp’s moves to reopen Georgia.

Late on Thursday, Trump sparked fresh confusion over prospects for COVID-19 treatments, suggesting scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectants or being bathed in ultraviolet light.

The comments prompted doctors, health experts and manufacturers of bleach to warn the public not to drink or inject disinfectant. On Friday, Trump said his remarks were meant as sarcasm.

U.S. Representative Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican, said restarting commerce on Friday was sending mixed messages.

“Everyone’s supposed to be staying home, but yet we’re opening up these businesses,” Collins told Fox News. He cited the guidelines calling for states to register a two-week decline in coronavirus cases before easing restrictions, and said parts of Georgia were still struggling to treat patients.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state has been the worst hit by the virus, said reopening the economy prematurely in any U.S. state was a danger to others.

PEAK HOSPITALIZATIONS

According to a University of Washington research model often cited by the White House, coronavirus hospitalizations in Georgia should peak next week.

Oklahoma, with far fewer cases and deaths than Georgia, began opening hair and nail salons and other personal care businesses on Friday. The University of Washington model predicts Oklahoma already hit its hospitalizations peak on Tuesday and could safely loosen restrictions in June.

Tennessee reopened most of its 56 state parks on Friday.

Texas on Friday began a “retail-to-go” phase of its reopening, allowing retail shops to either deliver products to homes or letting customers wait in cars in parking lots for purchases to be handed them by store workers.

In practice, many Texas merchants have been doing this for weeks or stayed open outright, as Republican Governor Greg Abbott had classified much of the state’s retail economy, including big-box stores, bike shops, dry cleaners and farmers markets, as essential businesses.

In the latest protest against the shutdowns, hundreds of people gathered on Friday outside the Wisconsin state Capitol building in Madison calling for Democratic Governor Tony Evers to reopen the state, even as it reported its largest single-day jump of new coronavirus cases.

“Stand strong, be united and stand tall and proud for America,” said one of the protesters through a bullhorn. Many in the crowd wore Trump hats, waved American flags and carried “Go Back To Work” signs.

There was also a quiet counter-protest – a woman standing by a tree wearing a face mask, a bottle of hand sanitizer on her hip, holding a sign that said, “Please Go Home.”

 

 

 

Share article
Tags: U.SDonald TrumpCoronavirusCOVID-19
Previous Post

How Africa risks reeling from a health crisis to a food crisis

Next Post

FEATURE: ‘Starving artist’ a more meaningful phrase amid lockdown

Related Posts

The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2022.

U.S. Supreme Court limits federal power to curb carbon emissions

30 June 2022, 6:07 PM
African migrants sit on top of a border fence during an attempt to cross from Morocco into Spain's north African enclave of Melilla, November 21, 2015.

UN calls on Spain and Morocco to investigate deaths of at least 23 migrants seeking to enter Melilla

30 June 2022, 12:20 PM
Rescuers work at a site of a residential building hit by a Russian military strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine June 29, 2022.

IN BRIEF: Russia-Ukraine conflict | Russia steps up attacks in Ukraine after landmark NATO summit

30 June 2022, 9:15 AM
An electron microscopic (EM) image shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virus particles as well as crescents and spherical particles of immature virions, obtained from a clinical human skin sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak in this undated image obtained by Reuters on May 18, 2022.

Western Cape residents advised not to panic after confirmation of Monkeypox case

30 June 2022, 9:11 AM
Officials, including British and Ukrainian service members, greet each other before the unloading of a shipment of Britain's security support package for Ukraine, delivered by a C17 Globemaster III aircraft of the Royal Air Force, at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, February 9, 2022.

UK to provide another 1 bln pounds of military support to Ukraine

30 June 2022, 1:41 AM
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a news conference.

NATO members agree Russian Federation is the ‘most significant and direct threat’ to their security

29 June 2022, 8:10 PM
Next Post
This week fine artist Kabelo Letshwene talks about fine art.

FEATURE: 'Starving artist' a more meaningful phrase amid lockdown

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • EMS says fire at Bree Street Taxi Rank in Johannesburg has been extinguished
  • The public has until 18 May to make submissions on Icasa’s regulations for extension of expiry period for data, airtime
  • ANC NEC expected to hold a special meeting on Sunday
  • Eastern Cape flood victims plead for support as access to food, services remains difficult
  • Amathole Regional Secretary elated to have corruption charges against him dropped
  • East London police search for clues that led to tavern death; calls to revoke tavern’s licence 
  • UPDATE: At least 17 people killed in an East London tavern stampede
  • E Cape Liquor Board says Enyobeni tavern owner will face criminal charges
  • Zulu Royal Palace abuzz as King Misuzulu’s cleansing ceremony continues
  • Limpopo residents concerned about illegal harvesting of the Matumi tree
  • East London police search for clues that led to tavern death; calls to revoke tavern’s licence 
  • UPDATE: At least 17 people killed in an East London tavern stampede
  • Mosimane alleges sabotage from CAF President Patrice Motsepe
  • SANTACO and NTA calls on COSATU to join the national shutdown over the hiking fuel prices
  • NTA yet to decide whether to support calls for national shutdown amid fuel price hikes

LATEST

Staples such as maize, vegetables, and fruit are constantly tested for quality control.
  • Business

A multi-sectoral approach to food safety recommended at Africa food safety workshop Johannesburg


Live stream card.
  • Africa

LIVE: The inaugural Kenneth Kaunda Memorial Lecture by H.E. President Thabo Mbeki


The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2022.
  • World

U.S. Supreme Court limits federal power to curb carbon emissions


An e-toll outlet in Pretoria.
  • Business

Solution to e-tolls will be announced in October: Mbalula


The newly-renovated terminal can now load up to 200 cars per hour, an 11% improvement.
  • Business

Automotive sector given a boost with a newly-renovated terminal in Port Elizabeth


Condoms form the red ribbon, which represents the international symbol for AIDS at a wall of establishment in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  • Sci-tech

Health department launches National Youth HIV Prevention Strategy


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous How Africa risks reeling from a health crisis to a food crisis
Next FEATURE: ‘Starving artist’ a more meaningful phrase amid lockdown