Americans begin to surface from isolation as states ease clamp-downs
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[May 02, 2020]
By Gary McWilliams and Liz Hampton
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Americans in about half
of U.S. states, led by Texas and Georgia, began emerging on Friday from
home confinement while California and New York held fast to business
closures and other restrictions imposed in the face of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Texas on Friday began a phased-in reopening of businesses shuttered more
than a month ago, with restaurants, retail stores and malls allowed to
open at 25% capacity. A second phase is planned for May 18 if infection
rates continue to decline.
"It’s a fraction of a typical Friday crowd, but compared to the last
couple months it’s better than zero,” said Omid Rafiei co-owner the
Wakefield Crow Bar in Houston, which reopened for dine-in customers with
a limited menu.
"I feel comfortable with the protocols we have in place," Rafiei said,
referring to required face masks for staff and greater separation
between tables.
Across Texas, major employers were putting plans in place to bring staff
back to their offices.
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Chevron Corp <CVX.N> has not yet made decisions on timing or locations,
spokesman Sean Comey said, but the oil company is working on guidelines
for the restart.
“Some workers are eager to get back to the office,” said ConocoPhillips
<COP.N> spokesman John Roper. Conoco alerted its 2,500 Houston-area
workers on Thursday it will reopen its corporate headquarters in phases
beginning May 11.
GOVERNORS UNDER PRESSURE
About half of U.S. states, joined by some local jurisdictions, have
moved toward at least partial lifting of shutdowns as the number of new
COVID-19 cases began to drop or level off. Governors have been under
pressure from citizens agitating for relief from the restrictions as
U.S. Department of Labor data this week showed some 30 million Americans
have sought unemployment benefits since March 21.
As of Friday, the number of known infections nationwide had climbed to
more than 1 million, including nearly 64,000 deaths, according to a
Reuters tally.
President Donald Trump added to the pressure on governors on Friday,
urging Michigan's Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, to compromise
with activists who have protested her request to extend emergency powers
to combat COVID-19.
"The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire.
These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives
back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal," Trump tweeted.
California has also seen protests over Governor Gavin Newsom's sweeping
stay-at-home orders, which remain fully in place, and crack-down on
beach goers who have defied those restrictions.
Newsom struck a conciliatory tone during his daily remarks on the
pandemic on Friday, telling Californians for the first time that the
state may be only days away from lifting some of the rules but that
residents needed to stay strong in the meantime.
"If we can hold the line and continue to do good work ,we'll get there
much sooner," the Democratic governor said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, which has lead the country in
coronavirus deaths, said on Friday that all state schools, colleges and
universities would remain closed for the remainder of the academic year
due to the pandemic.
Washington State, where Seattle was an early hot spot for the virus,
extended its lockdown to May 31, Governor Jay Inslee announced.
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![](../images/050220pics/news_e3.jpg)
Customers and employees of Petty Cash clothing store wear masks as
restaurants and stores are reopened following the lifting of some
restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) in Houston, Texas, U.S., May 1, 2020. REUTERS/Go
Nakamura
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GEORGIA WATCHED CLOSELY
Georgia has so far gone farthest toward reopening its economy, with
nearly every business in the state free to reopen on Friday. The
move by Republican Governor Brian Kemp is being watched by the
federal government and other states to see if the number of cases in
Georgia surge.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top pandemic adviser to Trump, said earlier
this week he was concerned about states and communities reopening
ahead of a timeline recommended by the White House.
But in Atlanta on Friday Kemp's decision was cheered by Michael
Bowers, who co-owns Bowers Watch & Clock Repair in the city's tony
Buckhead neighborhood.
"We need to reopen," Bowers, 55, said of the small business his
grandfather started in the 1940s. "We couldn't stay alive with doors
shut. We need that money stream or we fail."
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia rose to 27,270 on
Friday, according to the state Department of Public Health, an
increase of more than 1,000 from Thursday.
With stores shut, Americans have relied heavily on home deliveries
of everything from food to clothes and office equipment, giving
online retailers like Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> a heavy workload.
Some workers at Amazon, Target Corp <TGT.N> and Instacart Inc staged
protests and sick-outs in New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and other
states on Friday to demand a safer work environment and better pay
during the outbreak.
In Los Angeles, street vendors drove around City Hall in a caravan
pleading for rent relief in a May Day demonstration, saying they
have been unable to collect unemployment benefits because of the
informal nature of their work or because of their immigration
status.
"I’m trying to get help from food banks and donations," said
Francisca Salgado, 36, who sat in a minivan with her three children.
"We’re not qualified for unemployment."
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New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday ordered a
lockdown of the town of Gallup after its mayor requested the measure
to control the state’s worst coronavirus outbreak.
All roads into the town of 22,000 people were to close and
businesses shut nightly from 5 p.m. Gallup is the county seat of
McKinley County, which forms part of the hard-hit Navajo Nation
reservation. The county has 1,027 coronavirus cases, the highest of
any in New Mexico, and 19 deaths.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani, Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York, Doina
Chiacu in Washington, Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento and Gary
McWillians, Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba in Houston; Writing by
Alistair Bell and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Cynthia
Osterman)
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