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And Monday saw more governors taking actions such as restricting group sizes, closing bars and restaurants, and in the case of Texas, restricting medical procedures including abortions.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to postpone “all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary” includes abortions that are not needed to preserve the life or health of the mother.
“We must work together as Texans to stop the spread of Covid-19 and ensure that our health care professionals and facilities have all the resources they need to fight the virus at this time,” Paxton said. “No one is exempt from the governor’s executive order on medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including abortion providers.”
New measures were taken in at least 15 states.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said his state has seen an influx of people flying in from New Jersey and New York, said anyone coming from those states will be told to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“Today there’s over 190 direct flights from the New York City area to the state of Florida, and I would reckon, given the outbreak there, that every single flight has somebody on it who’s positive for Covid-19,” DeSantis said.
Surgeon general’s warning
The country’s top health official said the number of cases isn’t subsiding.
“I want America to understand — this week, it’s going to get bad,” US Surgeon General Jerome Adams told NBC’s “Today” show Monday.
“We really, really need everyone to stay at home. I think that there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but … we’re finding out a lot of people think this can’t happen to them.”
Stricter rules go into effect as people ignore social distancing orders
Americans should stay at least 6 feet away from others and avoid crowds, health officials say. Yet people keep ignoring that guidance.
Connecticut, Louisiana and Ohio joined that list Monday as did seven counties in Pennsylvania.
And similar orders are expected to go into effect Tuesday in Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico and West Virginia.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott directed businesses and not-for-profit entities — to the maximum extent possible — to put into place telecommuting or work-from-home procedures. He told Vermonters to be ready for an upcoming announcement on further restrictions and a stay-at-home directive.
The orders say residents must stay home, with few exceptions such as grocery shopping, getting medicine and going to work at an essential job.
People can still go outside and be active, as long as they stay at a healthy distance from others.
Violating the orders could result in fines in states such as New York and Connecticut.
“There will be a civil fine and mandatory closure for any business that is not in compliance,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered the closure of all non-critical workplaces as of 5 p.m. Monday.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker also ordered all nonessential businesses to shut down their physical workplaces from noon Tuesday until April 7. Those employees can still work from home.
As in many other states, restaurants and bars can still sell food, but only as takeout.
Massachusetts is also banning gatherings over 10 people “a reduction from the 25-person limit established in an earlier order,” Baker’s office said.
Trump said those National Guard units will remain in the command of the states’ governors.
In concert with the state measures, it’s all in an effort to control the deadly virus and prevent a catastrophic overload of the US health care system.
‘A point where people can’t be saved’
Medical workers from coast to coast say they’re facing a dire shortage of masks, ventilators and staff as more doctors and nurses also fall sick.
“I literally want to see hundreds of ventilators. I want to see first hundreds of thousands and millions of masks,” de Blasio said.
“If we don’t get ventilators this week, we are going to start losing lives we could have saved.”
Monday, Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Brian Schatz of Hawaii planned to introduce a bill to require the President to fully use the Defense Production Act.
The bill would require the President to ensure the production of at least 500 million N95 respirator masks, 200,000 ventilators, 20 million face shields, 500 million pairs of medical gloves and 20 million surgical gowns.
Even GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said the US needs to go “all in” with increasing medical supplies.
“Anything that can provide relief to the frontline troops, do it,” the South Carolina lawmaker said. “Be all in on the medical supply front.”
More drive-thru testing becomes available
While testing has become more available, there are still challenges — and increased strain on the health care system.
About 254,000 Americans have been tested, Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday. That total does not include local hospitals or local health care labs, he said.
But increasing testing has put pressure on dwindling medical supplies and increased the possibility of exposure in medical facilities.
Los Angeles is implementing a new web portal that would direct those who might be at highest risk to a testing center.
In Chicago, two Walmart Supercenter parking lots are being designated as drive-thru testing sites.
And a new drive-up testing facility in Miami will give health care workers and first responders priority testing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
More outbreaks in nursing homes
Seven nursing homes across Arkansas have reported cases, state Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith said.
At least 41 cases are linked to Briarwood Nursing Home in Little Rock, Smith said. Residents accounted for 35 of those cases, and staff members for six.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said four members of the National Guard are testing everybody at a nursing home after a woman there tested positive for coronavirus.
“We are a very high risk, if not the highest risk state,” Justice said Monday.
In Broward County, Florida, at least three people from the Atria Willow Wood facility have died from coronavirus. Seven other people have tested positive, Senior Vice President of Care Mike Gentry said.
DeSantis said the Florida facility did not take precautions against the virus, allowing staff who hadn’t been screened for symptoms to freely enter the building. But Atria disputed the governor’s claims.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the number of people facing stay-at-home orders across the US.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Jacqueline Howard, Ryan Browne, Melanie Schuman, Carma Hassan, Artemis Moshtaghian and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.
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