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LPT: The lower you set expectations, the less you disappoint. Yesterday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN "we are not going to control the pandemic," and should instead focus on what we can control, like making vaccines and therapeutics.
But with a
record 83,000+ new cases reported both Friday and Saturday, a third wave
of Covid-19 is already battering the country and threatening an uneven
recovery for U.S. businesses.
Remember the summer?
When daily
cases peaked at ~76,000 in July, officials reimposed restrictions on
restaurants, public attractions, and gatherings in hard-hit states
including California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas.
- Airlines reported a drop in already anemic traffic, and Yelp data showed major declines in business reopenings in June and July. (Just one metro area, Buffalo, NY, experienced an increase.)
This third
wave, however, is the result of rising infections across a larger swath
of the country. Clustered in the Midwest and Mountain West, 15 states added more new cases last week than during any other seven-day period.
Last week, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered
non-essential businesses to close from 10pm–6am and put restrictions on
bar and restaurant service. If the city's outbreak doesn't improve,
she'll consider another shelter-in-place mandate. Yesterday, authorities
in El Paso, TX, asked residents to stay home for a couple weeks following a 300% increase in hospitalizations.
Plus, people are worried how well Covid will hit it off with the flu. Shoppers are raiding grocery stores and stockpiling supplies in case of a fall/winter surge.
Around the world…
Governments are hoping to avoid blanket shutdowns as their own second waves spiral.
In Europe, where cases have more than doubled in the last 10 days, Italy is requiring bars and restaurants to close early beginning today—its most intense restrictions since lifting lockdowns this spring. Spain enacted
a nightly curfew yesterday and will allow local authorities to restrict
regional travel. And lockdowns across Britain are affecting nearly 6
million people.
- Like the U.S., some countries are dealing with protests against new restrictions.
Big picture: The
WHO said the Northern Hemisphere is at a "critical juncture" as cases
and deaths rise. For the U.S., this third wave will dominate the
national conversation heading into next week's election.
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