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New York and New Jersey, Onetime Virus Hot Spots, Crack Down Again

New York and New Jersey, the early hot spots of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, are getting tough on parties.

New York and New Jersey, Onetime Virus Hot Spots, Crack Down Again
A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes in front of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. (Photographer: Roger Kisby/Bloomberg)

New York and New Jersey, the early hot spots of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, are getting tough on parties, anti-maskers and out-of-town visitors that are raising the risk of a resurgence.

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy cut the indoor-gathering limit by 75%, to 25 people, after a spate of house parties led to almost 100 cases. The state’s virus transmission rate, a key spread indicator, has jumped to the highest since early April.

New York and New Jersey, Onetime Virus Hot Spots, Crack Down Again

Inspectors in New York issued 106 violations to restaurants and bars over the weekend for not following containment orders. Governor Andrew Cuomo said gatherings ignoring social-distancing rules -- including a party boat with 170 guests aboard cruising around Manhattan and a rave that drew hundreds beneath the Kosciuszko Bridge in Brooklyn -- will lead the virus to boomerang around the country.

While the U.S. reported a rise in new cases of less than 1%, below the 1.4% average of the past week, states that suffered the most in March and April saw causes for alarm. They’ve joined Connecticut in requiring visitors from almost three dozen states deemed as trouble zones to self-quarantine, and are taking a cautious approach as the start of school nears.

“It’s Florida, it’s Texas, it’s the Midwest, it’s California, ‘oh it’s back to New Jersey’ is on the rise, ‘oh it’s back to Massachusetts’ is on the rise,” Cuomo said Monday. “It will continue, this ricocheting across the country, because that’s what viruses do.”

New York and New Jersey, Onetime Virus Hot Spots, Crack Down Again

In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner told police to start issuing warnings and citations for anyone not wearing a mask.

“There are too many street parties, house parties, zydecos on the corners, backyard parties, and more happening in our city especially when individuals are not wearing masks,” Turner said in a post on Twitter on Monday.

Georgia, one of the first states to reopen, had been a success story as cases didn’t start rising as people ventured out more. But on Sunday, a state report showed 235 new infections per 100,000 people last week, while the national average is 137 per 100,000.

“Georgia continues to experience a high plateau of case incidence and saw an increase in testing positivity over the past week,” according to the report.

Some states reported positive indicators on Monday, though weekend delays can skew data. Arizona recorded 1,030 new cases, the lowest since late June, though its positivity rate -- the percentage of people tested who turn out to have the virus -- remains critically high at 12.9% statewide.

New York and New Jersey, Onetime Virus Hot Spots, Crack Down Again

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom signaled the state may be turning a corner after a surge of infections in July, with the seven-day average for new cases falling 21% from last week. The average positivity rate over seven days has slipped to 6.1% from a peak of 8% late last month.

“It is encouraging,” Newsom said at a briefing Monday. “At the same time, we can quickly find ourselves back to where we were just a few weeks ago, a month ago, with significant increases, if we do not maintain our vigilance.”

Another hot spot, Florida, reported a drop in its positivity rate to 9.1% Sunday, the lowest since late June. However, state-run testing sites were shut for several days as authorities prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Isaias.

Storm Challenges

Coping with hurricanes during the pandemic will be a particular challenge, as the season hits new records for the number of named storms this early in the year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared with President Donald Trump on Friday at a briefing on the matter. He said that concern about the virus spreading in storm shelters that can’t allow for social distancing could lead authorities at times to opt against evacuation orders in favor of sheltering in place.

While Isaias had weakened as it hit Florida this weekend, winds are expected to increase in speed to a Category 1 hurricane. It’s expected to make landfall in the Carolinas, where they have readied emergency shelters if evacuations are required. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said anyone fleeing the storm and coming to a shelter will be screened for Covid-19 symptoms, and anyone who tests positive will be sent to another location to be isolated and get treatment.

Surge warnings have been issued through New York. Storm barriers and sandbags have been deployed, especially in the Wall Street area, to defend against rising water, with the worst of the rain and wind for that area expected Tuesday.

The U.S. surpassed 155,000 deaths and cases reached 4.69 million Monday. Together California, Florida, Texas and New York account for about 40% of cases nationwide.

New York and New Jersey, Onetime Virus Hot Spots, Crack Down Again

If the numbers don’t come down nationally, “we’re going to have a really bad situation in the fall,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview online with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“As you get indoors and you get the complication of influenza, that’s something that we’re going to have to deal with,” Fauci said.

School Return

Decisions on how to return students to school safely loom as well. In Pennsylvania, some schools may have to reconsider fall sports, Governor Tom Wolf said Monday. The state had peaked in early April with about 2,000 cases in one day. It dropped below 400 daily cases in June, then surpassed 1,000 multiple times in July.

The country’s two largest school districts are New York City and Los Angeles, respectively. In New York, a decision will be made this week on whether classes will resume in person. The Los Angeles teachers union reached a deal with the district for virtual learning, allowing but not requiring teachers to work from their classrooms.

Back in New Jersey, Murphy said all 1.37 million students in New Jersey will be required to wear masks, except if disability or health conditions make it impossible. He said it’s crucial for the state’s transmission rate to drop below 1, the indicator that the infection is spreading. While it’s understandable for people to want to resume pre-pandemic activities and get out and socialize, it’s not time yet, he said.

“There’s this ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore’” attitude after months of restrictions, he said. “It’s human nature, so as the clock has gone on, folks have begun a little bit to fall off the wagon.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.