California’s health department announced Thursday that the state’s roughly 40 million residents must cover their faces in “most settings outside the home.” California embraced especially strict measures the same day it reported record-high new coronavirus infections.
Meanwhile, mask mandates continue to generate controversy around the country. The governor of Nebraska said any local government that requires masks in its offices and courts would not get federal coronavirus funding allocated by the Cares Act. However, the mayor of Orange County, Fla., announced plans to sign an executive order that requires every person to wear a mask starting Saturday.
Novel coronavirus caseloads continue to surge across the South and West. Arizona announced 2,519 new cases on Thursday morning, Florida announced 3,207, and California reported 4,084. All are new highs. Coronavirus hospitalizations in Arizona have doubled since Memorial Day, with public data showing inpatient beds across the state at 85 percent capacity.
Oklahoma reported a huge spike in new coronavirus cases on Thursday as the Trump campaign prepared for a Saturday rally in Tulsa. There are 450 new confirmed cases in Oklahoma, the state reported, the highest one-day total since its previous record, set Wednesday, of 259 cases.
So far, more than 116,000 people are reported to have died of the virus in the United States, with more than 2.1 million cases diagnosed.
source the Washington Post