India and the United States are among parts of the world where a rise in coronavirus cases is prompting authorities to reimpose lockdown restrictions meant to stop the spread of the virus. 

India reported another record one-day increase in confirmed cases Monday with nearly 20,000.  The country trails only the United States, Brazil and Russia in total confirmed cases since the pandemic began late last year.   

Part of India’s Assam state has reimposed its lockdown through July 12, while West Bengal state extended its restrictions until the end of July. 

In the United States, Florida, Texas, California and Arizona are among the states that have seen a spike in their cases. 

Florida, Texas

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Sunday that he is again closing beaches in his state, blaming young people who are balking at wearing masks and practicing social distancing for driving the surge in new cases.

State officials have also put the brakes on alcohol consumption at bars because of what DeSantis calls “widespread noncompliance.”

“It has invariably been because they packed so many people in and created a type of environment that we are trying to avoid. Caution was thrown to the wind and so we are where we are,” the governor said.

The governors of Texas and California have also closed many bars, with Texas’ Greg Abbott saying “COVID-19 has taken a very swift and very dangerous turn in Texas over just the past few weeks.”

California, Washington

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom closed bars in seven counties that had reopened and urged those in eight more counties to close also.  

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has suspended the fourth phase of his state’s reopening plans. The northwestern U.S. state reported 3,180 new cases in the last week, a figure approaching what the state saw during the height of the outbreak in March.   

Nationwide, there have been more than 35,000 reported cases for six consecutive days. 

Over 10 million cases worldwide

The number of global cases has passed 10.1 million and the number of deaths has passed 502,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.   

The World Health Organization says the number of new cases set another daily record Sunday – 189,000 — led by Brazil’s 47,000 cases in a 24-hour period.  

Many health experts say the actual number of cases around the word may be much higher than the reported numbers due to a lack of testing and asymptomatic carriers.  

With 47 new cases Monday, South Korea continued to worry about a second wave of infections, and President Moon Jae-in urged people to consider staggering their travel during vacation season in order to help with social distancing efforts and prevent workers in the tourism industry from being overwhelmed. 

Workers at six Amazon warehouses in Germany planned to go on strike Monday because of concerns over employees testing positive for COVD-19.   

A representative for the Amazon employees labor union says as many as 40 have been infected and accuses the company of putting profits ahead of safety.   

Amazon denies the allegation and says it has invested billions to protect its workers all over the world. 

Source: VOA

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