Page 2 - aruba-today-20210128

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 28 January 2021
States lift restrictions gradually amid fears of new variant

Continued from Front last month when hospitals
were so overwhelmed
The state previously au- with virus patients that
thorized the resumption of they were on the verge of
in-person classes at high rationing lifesaving care.
schools and the partial reo- Restaurants and places of
pening of movie theaters. worship will be able to op-
“We’re in a stronger posi- erate outdoors, and many
tion because we’ve taken stores will be able to have
this pause,” Whitmer said. more shoppers inside.
“But we are also very mind- Jen Diaz, a 38-year-old
ful of the fact that this vari- technical writer from San-
ant is now here in Michi- ta Clarita, California, who
gan. It poses a real threat.” works remotely and has not
The COVID-19 death toll in left her home since a trip to
the U.S. has climbed past the supermarket in March,
425,000, with the number said she was “horrified”
of dead running at close when she heard the gover-
to all-time highs at nearly nor’s announcement. She
3,350 a day on average. has rheumatoid arthritis,
But newly confirmed cases and her treatments sup-
have dropped over the press her immune system,
past two weeks from an but she has yet to receive
average of about 248,000 In this Jan. 25, 2021, file photo, Sara Nguyen, right, sits behind a plexiglass shield as she gives a a vaccination because she
per day to around 166,000. manicure to Christine Frazer at KB Nails in Sacramento, Calif. Associated Press is under 65.
And the number of people “I was really, really proud
in the hospital with COV- reported in over 20 states. Major cultural attractions Steakhouse, has been us- of California’s response at
ID-19 has fallen by tens of Other mutant versions are including the Field Museum ing hospital-grade air filtra- first” in the early months of
thousands to 109,000. circulating in South Africa and Shedd Aquarium reo- tion systems in the hopes of the pandemic, she said.
At the same time, health and Brazil. The Brazil variant pened with crowd limits. staying afloat, he said. “Suddenly we’re just open-
experts have warned that has been detected for the Steve Lombardo III, an “Will we be making mon- ing everything. `Let’s go to
the more contagious and first time in the U.S., in Min- owner of a Chicago-area ey? Probably not,” Lom- the mall!’”
possibly more lethal variant nesota. restaurant group, called bardo said. “But we won’t She added: “The govern-
sweeping Britain will proba- Chicago and surrounding being able to seat custom- be hemorrhaging money ment doesn’t seem to be
bly become the dominant suburbs allowed indoor din- ers indoors a “huge boost.” like we have the last three taking this as seriously as it
source of infection in the ing over the weekend for One of its most famous months.” once did, on a state level.”
U.S. by March. It has been the first time since October. restaurants, Gibsons Bar & Washington, D.C., also re- In Oregon, Gov. Kate
cently ended its month- Brown announced that
long ban on indoor dining, some indoor operations
but one in New York City such as gyms and movie
remains in effect. theaters can reopen Friday
California Gov. Gavin New- with limited capacity. In-
som this week lifted stay-at- door dining is still banned in
home orders he imposed the hardest-hit counties.q
Census data for congressional

seats still months away

By MIKE SCHNEIDER the end of last year, but the
Associated Press Census Bureau requested
The numbers used for div- until the end of April after
vying up U.S. congressio- the virus outbreak caused
nal seats among the states the bureau to suspend op-
won't be ready until the erations.
end of April, a Census Bu- The deadline switched
reau official said Wednes- back to Dec. 31 after Presi-
day. dent Donald Trump issued
The new goal for finishing a directive to exclude peo-
data processing for the ple in the U.S. illegally from
apportionment numbers is the numbers used for divvy-
now April 30, said Kathleen ing up congressional seats.
Styles, a top bureau official. President Joe Biden re-
The deadline for turning in scinded that order on his
the apportionment num- first day taking office last
bers has been a moving week. Government attor-
target since the pandemic neys most recently had said
upended the Census Bu- that the numbers wouldn't
reau's once-a-decade be ready until early March
head count of every U.S. because the Census Bu-
resident. The numbers were reau needed to fix data
supposed to be turned in at irregularities.q