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 The move by Washington Governor Jay Inslee came as Arizona,
California, Mississippi and Nevada reported record numbers of new
cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
Texas set a record on Monday.
Washington state, site of one of the first known outbreaks of
COVID-19, saw its positive tests rise by 35 percent last week.
"This is about saving lives. It’s about reopening our businesses.
And it’s about showing respect and care for one another," Inslee, a
two-term governor who earlier this year sought the Democratic
nomination for president, said of the face-mask rule.
While the United States appeared to have curbed the outbreak for
several weeks in May, overall cases rose 25% last week, with 10
states reporting a greater than 50% rise in new infections,
according to a Reuters analysis.
About a dozen other U.S. states and some major cities have
face-covering rules. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat,
last week told residents to wear masks at nearly all times outside
the home.
A sharp spike of COVID-19 cases in the state's agricultural
breadbasket has prompted a hospital in Lodi to stop accepting some
patients who have other illnesses. California on Monday reported a
record increase of over 6,000 new cases, according to a Reuters
tally.
Throughout the United States, the virus is moving into rural areas
and other places that it had not initially penetrated deeply. It is
also renewing its surge in states, including Arizona and Texas,
where restrictions meant to slow its spread were lifted early.
Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, told a
House committee the surge in several states was concerning and the
next two weeks could be critical in containing them.
In Texas, which has seen COVID-19 hospitalizations hit record highs
for 12 days in a row, a Houston children's hospital has begun
admitting adult patients who are seriously ill with the virus.
"We know COVID-19 has not gone away. We implore you to take
responsible actions – practice appropriate social distancing, wear a
mask or face covering anytime you leave your home," Texas Children's
Hospital said in a written statement.
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EU CONSIDERS BAN ON AMERICANS
The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing documents it had obtained, that
European Union nations were considering a ban on travelers from the United
States, along with Russia and Brazil, as they reopen to tourists.
In March, as cases surged in Europe, President Donald Trump banned most
travelers from European countries from entering the United States, sparking
outrage from EU leaders.
While some of the increased numbers of cases can be attributed to more testing,
the percentage of positive tests is also rising.
At least four states are averaging double-digit rates of positive tests for the
virus such as Arizona at 20%. By contrast, New York, formerly the epicenter of
the U.S. outbreak, has been reporting positive test rates of around 1%.
Many of these states with rising cases are also seeing record hospitalizations -
a metric not affected by increased testing.
In Arizona, hospitalized COVID-19 patients hit a record of over 2,100 on
Tuesday, up 70% from two weeks ago. Only 16% of its intensive care unit beds
remain available, according to a state website.
Days after his first rally since early March drew a smaller-than-expected crowd
in Oklahoma, Trump traveled to Arizona on Tuesday to speak to college students
gathered at a church in Phoenix.
(Open
https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for a Reuters
interactive)
(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker and Karen Pierog in Chicago, Susan Heavey and Lisa
Lambert in Washington, D.C. and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Additional
writing and reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Tarrant
and Cynthia Osterman)
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