Nov 17, 2020 at 12:20 a.m. EST
California slams “emergency brakes” as states race to stop the spread of the coronavirus
by Greve Witt, Meryl Cornfield and Hannah Denham
Governors and mayors moved swiftly on Monday to slow the rapid spread of the covid-19 virus, reviving restrictions on businesses and individuals that public health experts say they desperately need again amid a nationwide viral escalation.
The new measures will appear from coast to coast. In a mirror of the nation’s spring shutdown, California has taken some of the most dramatic steps, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (Democrat) announcing that he is pulling the state’s “emergency brakes” to counter an outbreak that was “simply unprecedented in the history of the California pandemic.”
New Jersey and Philadelphia also announced new restrictions, after enacting more stringent new measures in recent days in states including Washington, Michigan and Iowa.
The data explains why: The country recorded 1 million cases of the new coronavirus in one week, with at least 100,000 cases added daily for about two weeks. With the death toll at 246,000, the grim milestone of the deaths of a quarter of a million Americans will likely be reached by the end of the week.
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