Covid-19: Experts call for urgent new measures as coronavirus cases continue to surge in US

As coronavirus cases in the United States continue to surge and its fall out on economy turns out to be equally dreadful, public health experts have called for urgent new measures to halt the spread of the virus.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security released a report on Wednesday with 10 recommendations for action and another stark warning related to the virus, Washington Post reported.

The scholars said the US is not doing enough to control the virus.

"Unlike many countries in the world, the United States is not currently on course to get control of this epidemic. It's time to reset," six scholars wrote.

Despite the concern over the rising death toll and economic impact, at least 17 of 21 states flagged as coronavirus "red zones" are not following all recommendations by the government's coronavirus task force.

Congressman James E. Clyburn, the chairman of the House's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, wrote governors of several red zone states urging them to follow experts advice.

The recent task force report "recommends far stronger public health measures than the Trump Administration has called for in public -- including requiring face masks, closing bars, and strictly limiting gatherings," Clyburn wrote in a letter to Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, and Vice President Pence.

"Yet many states do not appear to be following these unpublished recommendations and are instead pursuing policies more consistent with the administration's contradictory public statements downplaying the seriousness of the threat," he said.

Recently, the US Commerce Department reported that the economy shrank by 9.5 per cent in the second quarter, the biggest recorded decline since the government began keeping track 70 years ago.

President Trump swiftly and flatly blamed China for the mayhem in the US caused by the virus which he referred to as the "China virus"

"It's China's fault," he said.

More than 67,000 new COVID-19 cases were registered across the United States in the past 24 hours and 1,259 people died from the disease, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University on Saturday.

This takes the nationwide total to 4,562,170 infections while over 2.3 million have recovered. A staggering 153,320 deaths from the disease have been registered, the university's COVID-19 dashboard showed.

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, said any recovery depends on whether Americans are willing to embrace behaviour that can beat back the virus.

"The path of the economy is going to depend, to a very high extent, on the course of the virus and on the measures we take to keep it in check," he said Wednesday. "Social distancing measures and a fast reopening of the economy actually go together. They're not in competition with each other."

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers made masks compulsory inside public buildings and businesses. The order "strongly recommends" face coverings in other settings.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Thursday asked the state's liquor control commission to cut off alcohol sales at 10 p.m. each night. Any alcohol purchased by that hour would have to be consumed by 11.

Some Republican lawmakers in the state opposed the order, and court challenges to its constitutionality are expected. Elsewhere, some of the restrictions being imposed by local and state authorities are openly flouted.

-ANI

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