Coronavirus update: Americans could face more restrictions

By Dan McCaleb | The Center Square

Americans should expect to face more restrictions on their social interactions soon as government officials in states across the U.S. work to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says schools could be closed for the rest of the school year.

Retailers are closing stores or reducing their hours.

Passengers arriving to the U.S. from overseas are seeing long lines at customs.

These are just some of the developments as Americans see their lives altered in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

NIAID

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning that more needs to be done to reduce personal interactions throughout the country.

“I would like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction that we see in restaurants and in bars,” Fauci said. “Whatever it takes to do that, that’s what I’d like to see.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Fauci said Americans should be prepared for more lockdowns.

“I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,” he said.

France already is closing restaurants, cafes, movie theaters and bars and Spain and Italy have restricted people from leaving their homes.

Similar restrictions already are in place in some areas of the U.S.

Counties in the San Francisco Bay area of California have issued public orders banning gatherings of 10 or more people, including at restaurants, bars and theaters, unless all attendees can be at least 6 feet away from each other.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Sunday he too was thinking of shutting down bars and restaurants.

“COVID-19 is spreading because even healthy people can be walking around, giving it to other people. So we need to go on lockdown,” Pritzker said.

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday over the pandemic as the number of confirmed cases approaches 3,000 in the U.S. At least 60 people have died here from COVID-19, the infectious coronavirus that originated in China in December. At least 40 of the deaths are in the state of Washington, the epicenter of the virus in the U.S.

Symptoms are mild for the vast majority of people who contract COVID-19. But for some, including the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, symptoms can be much more severe.

While schools have closed for two to three weeks across the country, DeWine said Sunday on CNN that the current school year could be over.

“You know, this may not peak until the latter part of April or May,” he said. “So we’ve informed the superintendents, while we’ve closed schools for three weeks, that the odds are this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year.”

Walmart announced Saturday that all of its U.S. stores would shorten its hours to give employees time to restock shelves and clean them. Walmart will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. beginning Sunday.

Nike announced Sunday that it was shuttering al of its U.S. stores and many throughout the world until at least March 27. Apple, Urban Outfitters and others also are temporarily closing.

The NBA, NHL and MLS suspended their seasons indefinitely last week. Major League Baseball suspended preseason and pushed back the start of its regular season. The PGA cancelled this weekend’s Players Championship and postponed the Masters.

The NCAA cancelled all postseason tournaments, including its men’s and women’s college basketball playoffs.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Tony Webster and NIAID

8 thoughts on “Coronavirus update: Americans could face more restrictions

  1. FWIW – calling bs on it all. Surprising how quickly even some conservatives are caving to this weapon of mass distraction – but no one seems to be cowering on the floor in a fetal pose re the flu which includes 180,000 hospitalizations alone for 2019-20 so far, 10,000 have died and 80000 died in 2017-18 – a record. Countless are ‘self quarantined’.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/the-flu-has-already-killed-10000-across-us-as-world-frets-over-coronavirus.html

    This is not much different than any other epidemic or pandemic – reportedly nearly identical to SARS. Wuhan flu is just more Made in China garbage. And the home of nearly *all* 20th century pandemics. China waited for months or more to speak up about all this and we really do not know whats going on bc as a communist dictatorship – refuse to let any outside officials in. Tho fetid rot prevalent in wet markets are fingered there was 5G experimentation going on which could have accellerated the severity of any emerging viruses – Wuhan is home to the only biowarfare,er, ‘biolab’ in China where its theorized deadly microbes may have mysteriously ‘escaped’.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/real-umbrella-corp-wuhan-ultra-biohazard-lab-was-studying-worlds-most-dangerous-pathogens
    https://www.zerohedge.com/health/man-behind-global-coronavirus-pandemic

    However Bill and Melinda flanked with surrogates and a well repected teaching hospital – have been sponsoring the rollout of martial law and how to fearmonger the explanation of it all to the clueless masses:
    – The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security hosted the Clade X pandemic tabletop exercise on May 15, 2018, in Washington, DC. The purpose of the exercise was to illustrate high-level strategic decisions and policies that the United States and the world will need to pursue in order to prevent a pandemic or diminish its consequences should prevention fail.

    http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/events/2018_clade_x_exercise/index.html

    • Great Post.

      Bush meat or eating of anything that moves is not necessarily a good idea. It’s tough to find the truth, I read somewhere this started from people eating bats on the street vender/food of Wuhan. Eating monkeys’ probably not a good idea either.

      No doubt there are people pulling strings for more power and money. How come the WHO had test kits so early and from what I hear making many false positives?

      We could respond better, it will happen with a cooperative spirit and using he collective knowledge of the people rather than a select few who want to make every decision.

      Hopefully people stay well and work together.

  2. Conservative more self reliant life style isn’t such a bad idea now. Living on one income. Having cash reserves of 6 months. Low overhead. Perhaps some food and items for severe weather or in this case health events.

    Even still, it is sobering and humbling to how fragile things truly are. May we be blessed. even though we don’t deserve it.

  3. Schools in many states are closing for 2-3 weeks and some won’t reopen for the rest of the school year. The Dome crowd should also lose their session for the year. A taxpayer benefit as well.

  4. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”…or “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.
    How would this have been handled if Obummer was prez…

  5. 5 cases, and the only one hospitalized is from Mass and is 90 years old. We wish him well.

    4 are resting/recovering at home with no heroic treatments – and some have some out of state connection.

    Sadly Many other afflictions will take many more lives. Cancer, heart, Age.

    I look forward to a couple or three months from now in order to judge properly – “an abundance of caution…”

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