Celebrating July 4th Like This Isn’t a Pandemic Will Cost Lives
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Coronavirus cases are on the rise in an overwhelming majority of states now, and Texas just mandated masks in public places. President Donald Trump is set for a super-spreader event at Mt. Rushmore, and Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that a new strain of the virus could spread even faster than the current one.
In other words: maybe rethink the family BBQ this Fourth of July weekend.
As Americans head into the long weekend, 40 states reported on Thursday that their case numbers were rising, according to the Associated Press. Four states—California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona—combined for 15,000 new cases as the total number of new cases in America hit a new one-day high of more than 55,000.
In Texas, where officials are being opaque about which hospitals are hitting capacity, Governor Greg Abbott, who expanded the state’s reopening early last month even as the situation was deteriorating, issued a statewide requirement to wear a mask in public on Thursday, and banned certain gatherings of more than 10 people unless local officials approve. The order goes into effect at noon on Friday.
"COVID-19 is not going away," Abbott said in a video message released Thursday. "In fact, it’s getting worse. Now, more than ever, action by everyone is needed until treatments are available for COVID-19."
Despite the avalanche of new cases, President Donald Trump is pressing forward with a holiday event at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Thousands of people are expected to attend, and GOP Gov. Kristi Noem has said that masks are optional and seems to think you can take a day off from social distancing.
"We will have a large event on July 3rd,” Noem told Fox News earlier this week. “We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, we'll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we will not be social distancing.”
On Thursday, former presidential candidate and prominent Trump surrogate Herman Cain was hospitalized with coronavirus, after attending Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20. A tweet from the indoor event showed Cain (and many people surrounding him) not wearing masks.
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Cover: View Of Miami Beach area as Florida shatters records with over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in single day on July 2, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. Credit: mpi04/MediaPunch /IPX
