Anti-lockdown protesters burn masks in New York

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Anti-lockdown protesters burned face masks on Sunday as they walked through Manhattan following similar protests in California, upstate New York and Minnesota.

The surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has prompted authorities in states and cities in the United States to issue new lockdown guidelines.

As a result, protesters gathered in Washington Square Park on Sunday afternoon for the “No Lockdown in NYC” event. They carried “Stop Covid Tyranny”, “No More Lockdowns” and “Medical Freedom Now” signs. Photos show some of the protesters confronting other New Yorkers wearing masks.

On Sunday, protesters in the upstate surrendered to the home of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, calling for an end to state restrictions.

New York on Sunday had a 2.74% positivity rate. Hospitalizations rose to 2,562, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. As of Sunday, there were 278,956 confirmed cases and 19,537 deaths in New York City.

In California, protesters had previously crossed the Pacific Coast Highway and cheered when a face mask was set on fire during a protest against the state’s month-long curfew that began on Saturday. Protesters came to the home of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday for further lockdowns.

New York City closed in-person classes in the nation’s largest school system last week after the positivity rate surpassed 3%. It has angered families who think this is too high a standard and wonder why bars and restaurants can stay open.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that one of the main concerns was Staten Island. “Staten Island is a serious problem. Staten Island is also an issue in terms of hospital overload and we are facing a hospital capacity issue in Staten Island which we have to deal with over the next few days, ”he said.

The United States had more than 12.2 million diagnosed infections and at least 256,745 deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday evening. Scientists at the CDC estimate that about 40% of those infected do not have obvious symptoms but can still spread the virus.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest restriction came as the Golden State saw a worrying increase in cases, hospitalizations and positivity rates.

The restrictions require people to stay home from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. unless they are responding to an emergency, shopping, picking up take-out, or walking their dogs. The one-month curfew could be extended if the trend for rapid deterioration does not improve.

Following the protest on Sunday, Los Angeles County – the nation’s most populous – also banned in-person meals for three weeks. Officials had warned that the restrictions could arise if the county’s five-day average of new cases were over 4,000 or if hospitalizations exceeded 1,750 per day. Sunday’s five-day average was 4,097 cases and there were 1,401 hospitalizations.

The California Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 15,000 cases of the coronavirus statewide on Saturday – by far the highest level since the pandemic began in March. 14,000 other cases were recorded on Sunday.

The average daily number of coronavirus cases in California has tripled in the last month, according to the Los Angeles Times in an analysis, while hospitalizations with COVID-19 have doubled in the same period.

A group had also gathered in Huntington Beach at 10:01 p.m. Saturday night in defiance of the curfew, waving US flags and not wearing masks. More than 100 people gathered in downtown Fresno on Saturday, urging the Newsom government to “open California safely.”

More than a million people flew to the United States on Friday despite the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) issuing new guidelines last week as Dr.Anthony Fauci urged Americans to do a ‘ risk-benefit assessment ” before the Thanksgiving trip.

With the coronavirus spiraling out of control, the nation’s largest public health agency pleaded with Americans on Thursday not to travel on Thanksgiving and not to spend the holidays with people outside their homes.

Despite these warnings, 1,019,836 passengers flew to the United States on Friday, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

That number is 1.5 million less than the same day in 2019 and it is the second most people to travel by air since the pandemic hit the United States in March. On October 18, the TSA reported that 1,031,505 people had boarded flights.

Meanwhile, Dr Fauci urged Americans to really look at the big picture before traveling or planning a vacation.

The CDC’s Thanksgiving warning came last week and was one of the government’s strongest guidelines to date on reducing traditional gatherings to fight the outbreak.

Rhode Island Democratic government Gina Raimondo has announced a “ two-week break ” with business closings and reduced capacity at restaurants and places of worship starting November 30. “A full state lockdown” will follow.

In New Hampshire, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu had previously resisted calls for a statewide mask warrant, but issued an order requiring the wearing of face masks in public spaces at the inside and outside.

In Kansas, rural hospitals are struggling to transfer patients to larger hospitals for more advanced care.

Illinois and Washington have stores limited to 25% of their capacity. Maryland has stores and restaurants limited to 50 percent of their capacity.

In more promising news, COVID-19 vaccination program chief Dr Moncef Slaoui said the first Americans to receive a coronavirus vaccine could get it as early as December 11.

“ Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to vaccination sites within 24 hours of approval, so maybe I wait until the second day after approval on December 11 or 12, ” he said. he declared on ‘State of the Union’ with Jake Tapper.

Pfizer has submitted an emergency use authorization request to the Food and Drug Administration and a committee is scheduled to meet on December 10.

Slaoui identified December 11 or December 12 as the earliest dates when vaccines would be available. Slaoui, who heads the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, also said he believes life in the United States could return to normal in May.

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