Tag Archives: Governors

Biden says all U.S. governors should mandate masks to slow coronavirus’ spread

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden on Thursday called on all U.S. governors to mandate mask wearing to slow the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 165,000 people in the United States.

In his second day on the campaign trail with former rival and now running mate Kamala Harris by his side, Biden made the call for a nationwide mandate on masks after a virtual meeting with public health advisers in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

“Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months,” Biden said. “Every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing.”

He said that early delays in calling for masks led to unnecessary deaths.

President Donald Trump, the man he is trying to unseat in November, long refused to wear one in public. That turned masks into a political symbol and sparked squabbles across the country in which other Republican elected officials and some Trump supporters have angrily refused to wear them.

Public health officials agree that wearing masks in public slows the spread of the respiratory disease that has infected more than 5.2 million Americans.

“I hope we’ve learned our lesson. I hope the president has learned his lesson,” said Biden, the former vice president.

Harris, a U.S. senator from California and former prosecutor, added: “I think it’s important that the American people looking at the election coming up ask the current occupant of the White House, ‘When am I going to get vaccinated? When am I actually going to get vaccinated?’

“Because there may be some grand gestures offered by the current president about a vaccine but it really doesn’t matter until you can answer the question ‘When am I going to get vaccinated.’”

The first Black woman and Asian American on a major-party U.S. presidential ticket, Harris will have three roles to play in the campaign: energizing people to vote and volunteer, outlining Biden’s policy vision, and prosecuting the case against Trump, according to a person familiar with the strategy.

Trump long played down the risks of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more people in the United States than in any other country and thrown tens of millions of Americans out of work.

Harris is expected to focus on Trump’s response to the crisis, which has been an effective argument for Biden so far.

After introducing Harris’ personal story on Wednesday in their first joint appearance since picking his running mate, Biden quickly moved to talking about the urgency of the moment.

Trump, for his part, on Thursday tweeted that the media were giving Harris “a free pass despite her Radical Left failures and very poor run in the Democrat Primary.”

A Trump ally conceded privately that the Democratic pair had a “good day” on the campaign trail. Biden’s campaign said they collected $34.2 million on Tuesday and Wednesday after announcing Harris as the running mate, a record pace of fundraising.

In her debut appearance as Biden’s running mate on Wednesday, Harris delivered a rebuke of Trump’s leadership and highlighted the historic significance of her new role.

In the coming weeks, Harris will do events in person and virtually, including several jointly with Biden, similar to some of the socially distanced campaign stops and speeches Biden has given in recent weeks in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

The campaign is still unsure of how they will conduct future appearances, saying they intend to follow local public health guidance that continues to discourage large gatherings.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Scott Malone, Nick Zieminski and Sonya Hepinstall)

U.S. Vice President Pence supports governors pausing re-openings

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday he supported governors who are pausing their states’ re-openings during the coronavirus pandemic, but sees no need for a national mandate for people to wear masks.

Pence also said he believed schools could reopen on time in the fall and that the United States would keep opening up after the coronavirus pandemic that shut down the economy for several months.

The vice president made the remarks before a visit to hard-hit Florida, which shattered records on Thursday when it reported over 10,000 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase in the state since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally.

“I don’t think there’s a need for a national mandate,” Pence said in an interview with CNBC.

“The truth is that we’re monitoring right now 12 states that have rising cases and rising positivity and we’re fully supporting efforts that governors are taking and local health officials are taking to encourage people to practice good hygiene, social distancing, wear a mask when social distancing is not possible.”

Pence said that the rise in coronavirus cases across Sunbelt states in recent weeks – California, Arizona, Texas and Florida – reflects younger Americans beginning to congregate in settings where the virus can spread.

He said he and President Donald Trump support efforts by governors of those states “to modify or pause aspects of their reopening.”

To contain the outbreak, Florida closed bars and some beaches, but the governor has resisted requiring masks statewide in public or reimposing a lock-down.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

‘This is about livelihoods’: U.S. virus hotspots reopen despite second wave specter

By Andrew Hay

(Reuters) – Facing budget shortfalls and double-digit unemployment, governors of U.S. states that are COVID-19 hotspots on Thursday pressed ahead with economic reopenings that have raised fears of a second wave of infections.

The moves by governors of states such as Florida and Arizona came as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States could not afford to let the novel coronavirus shut its economy again and global stocks tanked on worries of a pandemic resurgence.

As Florida reported its highest daily tally of new coronavirus cases on Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a plan to restart public schools at “full capacity” in the autumn, arguing the state’s economy depended on it.

North Carolina reported record COVID-19 hospitalizations for a fifth straight day on Thursday, a day after legislators passed a bill to reopen gyms, fitness centers and bars in a state where more than one in ten workers are unemployed.

Governors of hotspot states face pressure to fire up economies facing fiscal year 2021 budget shortfalls of up to 30% below pre-pandemic projections in the case of New Mexico, according to data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities think tank. Nevada, which has seen cases increase by nearly a third in the past two weeks, is suffering 28% unemployment, based on U.S Bureau of Labor statistics.

“This is about saving lives, this is also about livelihoods in the state of Arizona,” Governor Doug Ducey told a news briefing, adding that a second shutdown of the economy was “not under discussion” despite official figures showing a 211% rise in virus cases over the past 14 days.

About half a dozen states including Texas and Arizona are grappling with rising numbers of coronavirus patients filling hospital beds.

Ducey and Texas Governor Greg Abbott say their hospitals have the capacity to avoid the experiences of New York, where the system was stretched to near breaking point as some COVID patients were treated in hallways and exhausted workers stacked bodies in refrigerated trailers.

‘FOOT ON THE BRAKE’

A second wave of coronavirus deaths is expected to begin in the United States in September, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said on Thursday, citing a surge in mobility since April. Its latest model projects 170,000 deaths by Oct. 1, with a possible range between 133,000 and 290,000.

A note of caution came from Utah, where Governor Gary Herbert said most of the state would pause its reopening after a 126% rise in cases over the past two weeks.

Austin, Texas on Thursday also said it would likely extend stay-at-home and mask orders past June 15 after the state reported its highest new case count the previous day. Austin health officials blamed a record week of infections on easing business restrictions and Memorial Day gatherings.

There was no talk of new shutdowns.

In New Mexico, Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel pointed to outbreaks at the Otero County Prison Facility, as well as in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as factors behind an uptick in cases.

“It means a little bit of a foot on the brake, watch carefully for the next couple of weeks, not much in the way of major changes in what we’re doing,” said Human Services Secretary David Scrase.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Austin and David Schwartz in Phoenix; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Daniel Wallis)

Trump warns governors: let places of worship open this weekend

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday urged state governors to allow the reopening this weekend in the United States of places of worship which have been closed due to the coronavirus, warning that he will override governors who do not do so.

At a short appearance in the White House briefing room, Trump said he was declaring that places of worship – churches, synagogues and mosques – are providing essential services and thus should be opened as soon as possible.

Places of worship have been closed along as part of stay-at-home orders most states have tried to control the spread of the coronavirus. With the infection rate declining in many areas, there is pressure to begin reopening.

Trump issued a warning to governors who refuse his appeal but did not say under what authority he would act to force the reopening of religious facilities.

“If they don’t do it I will override the governors. In America we need more prayer, not less,” he said.

(Reporting Jeff Mason and Steve Holland, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio)

CDC director says 19-20 U.S. states may be ready to reopen May 1

By Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday he believes 19 or 20 U.S. states have had limited impact from the new coronavirus and their governors believe they may be ready to reopen by President Donald Trump’s May 1 target date.

“There are a number of counties within this country that have not experienced really any coronavirus despite testing,” Robert Redfield said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“There are a number of states – 19, 20 states – that really have had limited impact from it. So I think we will see some states that are, the governors feel that they’re ready, we’re poised to assist them with that reopening,” Redfield said.

Trump said on Monday evening he was close to completing a plan for ending America’s coronavirus shutdown, which has thrown millions out of work, and may restart the battered U.S. economy in some areas even before May 1. He said around 20 states were “in extremely good shape and could reopen fairly quickly.

The president took renewed aim at the World Health Organization at the briefing, saying he has instructed his administration to halt U.S. funding to the Geneva-based institution over its handling of the pandemic.

Redfield would not directly answer a question about the president’s decision but said the CDC and WHO have had a long history of working together on global health outbreaks.

“We’ve had a very productive public health relationship,” he said. “We continue to have that.”

The CDC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have put together a public health strategy to reopen parts of the country as part of the larger White House effort get Americans back to work, the Washington Post reported.

The plan cites three phases: A national communication campaign and community readiness assessment through May 1; increased emergency funding and production of testing kits and personal protective equipment through May 15; and staged reopenings depending on local conditions.

The plan said some mitigation measures would have to remain in effect and communities that would only need “low mitigation” efforts are places where the virus never took hold, the Post said.

The document warned: “Models indicate 30-day shelter in place followed by 180 day lifting of all mitigation results in large rebound curve — some level of mitigation will be needed until vaccines or broad community immunity is achieved for recovering communities.”

Redfield said mitigation steps such as people staying physically separated would also likely have to continue until a vaccine and treatments are available.

“I do think we’re going to have some social distancing that’s going to be a critical part of our strategy as we go forward,” he told CBS “This Morning” in an interview.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Alex Richardson and Steve Orlofsky)

Louisiana Governor Invites 49 Other Governors To Prayer Rally

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has invited the other 49 U.S. governors to attend the national prayer gathering he is holding in Baton Rouge Saturday.

The letter states that America is in need and that it’s time for the governors to come together for an “apolitical” gathering to worship.  Jindal says it’s time for America’s leaders and worshippers to call on “our great Creator to intervene on behalf of our people and nation.”

“There will only be one name lifted up that day — Jesus,” Jindal wrote. “There will be no politicians giving speeches and no preachers pontificating.”

Jindal focused the letter’s call on 2 Chronicles 7:14.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Jindal has called in previous videos and letters for Americans to turn back to God, repent and ask Him to guide the leaders of this nation.  Jindal hosted a similar event in 2011 that was attended by Florida Governor Rick Scott and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.