Coronavirus Update: Americans Face Lockdown if Behaviors Continue

As fall turns to winter, coronavirus cases in the U.S. continue to grow. At least 31 states set one-day case records in the month of October.

As of Saturday, the country’s seven-day average of new daily cases exceeded 78,000 Saturday, an increase of 128.2% since mid-September.

Hospitalizations are also up nationwide, with over 47,000 patients admitted for Covid-19 infections, up 66% since the end of September.

“We won’t peak until we change our behaviors. And our behaviors that principally need to change are our lack of masking all over the country,” Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine at George Washington University, said in an interview over the weekend.

“But if we don’t do these things now, we’re going to be overwhelming our health systems, and then a lockdown may be necessary.”

According to a Sunday tally from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has more than 9.1 million coronavirus infections and almost 231,000 deaths.

MORE ON THE PANDEMIC

Authorities in New York City shut down an illegal Halloween party that drew nearly 400 people.

A photo released by the New York City Sheriff’s Office shows many people inside the warehouse, some wearing masks and others not, ignoring physical distancing rules.

The party, held in a Brooklyn warehouse, violated emergency orders banning large gatherings. At least nine people were charged with several misdemeanors and health violations. Other party attendees were charged for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

The White House is praising the pandemic response of the Trump administration and again taking aim at Dr. Anthony Fauci, after the doctor’s interview describing a grim future for Americans as we approach the winter months.

In his interview with The Washington Post that was published Saturday, Fauci compared the response of the presidential candidates, saying Biden “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective,” while Trump is “looking at it from a different perspective,” one focused on “the economy and reopening the country.”

“As a member of the Task Force, Dr. Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy, but he’s not done that, instead choosing to criticize the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president’s opponent— exactly what the American people have come to expect from The Swamp,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

Experiencing a boom in ecommerce sales during the pandemic, Amazon says it now has more than one million employees. The retail giant announced it hired 250,000 additional workers in the third quarter and hired another 100,000 workers in October.

Despite the company’s hiring spree, Amazon has faced backlash throughout the pandemic over its Covid-19 response, with some warehouse workers protesting the company’s safety policies on protecting employees from the spread of the virus.