Protests flared in US states on
Sunday over stay-at-home orders while governors disputed
President Donald Trump's claims they have enough tests for the
novel coronavirus and should quickly reopen their economies.
An estimated 2 500 people rallied at the Washington state
capitol in Olympia to protest Democratic Governor Jay Inslee’s
stay-at-home order, defying a ban on gatherings of 50 or more
people.
Despite pleas from rally organisers to wear face coverings
or masks as public health authorities recommend, many did not.
“Shutting down businesses by picking winners and losers in
which there are essential and non-essential are violations of
the state and federal constitution,” rally organiser Tyler
Miller, 39, an engineer from Bremerton, Washington, told
Reuters.
In Denver, hundreds of people gathered at the state capitol
to demand the end to Colorado's shutdown. As protesters clogged
streets with cars, healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks
stood at intersections in counterprotest.
Stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to
slow the spread of the virus, have battered the U.S. economy and
more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment
benefits in the past month. Demonstrations to demand an end have
previously erupted in a few spots in Texas, Wisconsin and the
capitols of Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia.
.
"These people love our country," Trump, who has touted a
thriving economy as the best case for his re-election in
November, told a briefing in Washington on Sunday. "They want to
get back to work.”
In New York, the US epicenter of the pandemic,
hospitalisations continued decline to 16 000 from a high of
18 000, and the number of patients being kept alive by
ventilators also fell. There were 507 new deaths from Covid-19,
the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, down from a
high of more than 700 a day.
A driver displays an alternate opinion as she passes protesters demonstrating at the Tennessee state capitol to speak out against the state's handling of the Covid19 outbreak. Picture: Mark Humphrey/AP/African News Agency (ANA)
"If the data holds and if this trend holds, we are past the
high point and all indications at this point are that we are on
a descent," Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a daily briefing,
while urging residents to continue social distancing.
To get a baseline of how many people were infected with the
novel coronavirus, Cuomo said the state would do the most
aggressive anti-body testing in the nation in the next week
using a random sample.
The United States has by far the world's largest number of
confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 750 000 infections
and over 40 500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
Cuomo, along with other governors, are clamoring for more
tests to detect new infections as well as to test for immunity
as part of their plans to reopen their states.
Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland during a CNN
interview said claims by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence
that states have plenty of tests were "just absolutely false."
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia told CNN the
idea states have enough tests was "delusional."
The region of Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC is
still seeing increasing cases. New Jersey reported on Sunday
that its new cases rose by nearly 3 900, the most in more than
two weeks. Boston and Chicago are also emerging hot spots with
recent surges in cases and deaths.
Several states, including Ohio, Texas and Florida, have said
they aim to reopen parts of their economies, perhaps by May 1 or
even sooner.
The governors of Michigan and Ohio on Sunday said they could
double or triple their testing capacity if the federal
government helped them acquire more swabs and reagents,
chemicals needed as part of the testing process.
Trump's guidelines to reopen the economy recommend a state
record 14 days of declining case numbers before gradually
lifting restrictions. Yet the Republican president appeared to
encourage protesters who want the measures removed sooner with a
series of Twitter posts on Friday calling for them to "LIBERATE"
Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, all run by Democratic
governors.
Inslee of Washington redoubled his attacks on Trump's call
to "liberate" states, saying the president was encouraging
people to violate state laws on self-isolating.
"These orders actually are the law of these states," he
said. "To have an American president encourage people to violate
the law, I can't remember any time during my time in America
where we have seen such a thing."
US lawmakers are nearing an agreement on approving extra
money to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic
and could seal a deal as early as Sunday, congressional and
Trump administration officials said.
Congress established the program last month as part of a
$2.3 trillion coronavirus economic relief plan, but it has
already run out of money.