Some states impose new restrictions as US surpasses 11 million COVID-19 cases

Several states have announced new efforts to fight the coronavirus as more than 11 million cases of COVID-19[female[feminine have now been reported in the United States – with the most recent million in less than a week – and as many Americans prepare to observe a Thanksgiving Holiday marked by the pandemic.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said on Sunday that the state will apply new restrictions on businesses and social gatherings for next month, as it continues to fight a growing number of cases.

Starting Tuesday, gymnasiums and some entertainment centers in Washington will have to shut down their indoor services. Retail stores, including grocery stores, will be ordered to limit indoor capacity and social gatherings inside multiple households will be banned unless attendees are quarantined for 14 days or tested negative for COVID-19 and quarantined for a week. By Wednesday, restaurants and bars will again be limited to alfresco dining and take-out.

Actions also follow grim past milestones Texas and California last week, the states each having scored more than one million confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

In Texas, sporting events have been canceled and at least one city has added mobile morgues in anticipation of devastating virus deaths in hospitals. Meanwhile, in California, the most populous state in the country and the first to issue a statewide stay-at-home order, officials urged those planning vacation gatherings to take strict precautions, including keeping the tours small, in the open air and under two hours.

And in North Dakota, a previously resistant governor, Doug Burgum, ordered a statewide mask warrant and imposed several trade restrictions on Friday evening in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus which has underlined the state’s hospital capacity . The Republican heeded the advice of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to demand face covers. Bars, restaurants and other venues were also ordered to reduce capacity.

Although not as drastic as those imposed last spring, Michigan restrictions and Washington has meant similar returns to measures taken in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, when the two were under strict orders to stay at home.

In Washington – which was among the first states to report a COVID-19 case and death in early 2020 – its 39 counties have been suspended in the second or third phase of a four-stage reopening plan that has started in early May after a lockdown that began in March.

The restrictions announced by Inslee, a Democrat, temporarily nullify all counties and put them under the same guidelines. The advisories say people should avoid non-essential out-of-state travel and be quarantined for 14 days after arriving from another state or country.

Health experts and officials across the country are now warning people to forgo or revise gatherings and vacation travel plans in the run-up to Thanksgiving and winter celebrations.

Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracking reached 11 million on Sunday after surpassing 10 million cases on November 9 – the most recent million coming in just six days. It has taken the United States 300 days to reach the 11 million mark since the first case was diagnosed in Washington state on January 20.

For the most part, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, which go away within two to three weeks, although long-term effects are unknown. But for some, it can cause more serious illnesses, including pneumonia and death.