First came the freezes.<\/p>\n
Governors last month started to \u201cpress pause\u201d on the next phases of their reopenings as Covid-19 cases picked back up. Now, in certain hot spots, they are starting to roll back some of the allowances they\u2019d granted: no more elective medical procedures in some Texas counties. Bars, only reopened for a short time, are shuttered again in parts of California. And on Monday, Arizona\u2019s governor ordered a new wave of gym, bar, and movie theater closures for at least the next month.<\/p>\n
These are measured retreats \u2014 a far cry from the lockdowns that much of the country burrowed into starting in March. But leaders are desperately hoping that the incremental approach can make a dent in the spread of the virus at a time when another round of lockdowns \u2014 and their accompanying disruptions to education, the economy, and the public psyche \u2014 seems beyond unpalatable, both politically and socially.<\/p>\n
They come as Texas, Florida, and other states are seeing record highs in daily coronavirus infections and intensive care units are teetering toward capacity, further proof that the coronavirus will run loose when given the chance.<\/a> They also raise a serious question: whether such half-measures are sufficiently intensive \u2014 and were put in place in time \u2014 to have the necessary impact.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a good step to getting a handle on the epidemic,\u201d said Ana Bento, a disease ecologist at Indiana University. \u201cIt still might not be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n No one wants to go back to lockdown. Is there a middle ground for containing Covid-19? https:\/\/t.co\/Gn60cW3jor<\/a> via @statnews<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Steven DeMaio (@stevedemaio) July 1, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n