Labor Day gatherings were canceled in cities across the U.S. as health authorities encouraged people to keep their distance from others Monday so as not to cause another coronavirus surge like the one that followed Memorial Day.
Additionally, India overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world as infections continue to accelerate in a nation of more than 1.3 billion people.
In the U.S., downtown Atlanta was quiet as the 85,000 or so people who arrive dressed as their favorite superheroes or science fiction characters for the annual Dragon Con convention met online instead. Football stadiums at college campuses such as Ohio State and the University of Texas sat empty. Many Labor Day parades marking the unofficial end of summer were called off, and masks were usually required at the few that went on.
Photo by The Des Moines RegisterStudents and supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, march Monday from Roosevelt High School to the Governor’s Mansion to protest the cancellation of fall and winter extracurricular activities. All in-per- son activities were suspended this month as the district’s classroom instruction remains virtual. (AP/The Des Moines Register/Olivia Sun)
"Please, please do not make the same mistakes we all made on Memorial Day weekend. Wear your masks, watch your distance and wash your hands," said Dr. Raul Pino, state health director in Orange County, Fla., which includes Orlando.
The U.S. had about 1.6 million confirmed covid-19 cases around Memorial Day, before backyard parties and other gatherings contributed to a summertime surge. The country now has nearly 6.3 million cases, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Deaths from the coronavirus have more than doubled over the summer to nearly 190,000.
In New Orleans, which had one of the largest outbreaks outside New York City this spring, city officials reminded residents that covid-19 doesn't take a holiday, after they received 36 calls about large gatherings and 46 calls about businesses not following safety rules on Friday and Saturday.
"This is not who we are, and this is not how we -- as a community -- get back to where we want to be," the city said.
In South Carolina -- which was a hot spot of contagion over the summer before cases started to decline in early August -- about 8,000 fans, including Gov. Henry McMaster, were allowed to attend the NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. State officials approved a socially distant attendance plan at the track, which can hold 47,000 people.
It was the biggest gathering in the state since the outbreak started six months ago. Many rows and seats were kept empty to keep groups of fans apart, and people were asked to wear masks.
Debbie Katsanos drove down from New Hampshire with her husband, her father and a friend. It was their first trip out of state since covid-19 started spreading. They had time off because a Labor Day weekend fair where they typically sell concessions was canceled this year.
Katsanos said they wore masks at all times when they were away from their motor home, ate in a restaurant only once on the way down and tried to stay socially distant when visiting with other people at their campground.
"It's probably our only chance to get somewhere before the summer ends, " Katsanos said Monday as she sat in traffic on Interstate 95 in North Carolina on the long trip home. "I saw it as the turning of the corner. We survived this. Let's live life a little."
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INDIA'S CASES
India on Monday added 90,802 cases -- setting another global record in the pandemic -- in the previous 24 hours, pushing its total past 4.2 million. Only the United States has recorded more. Brazil had more than 4.1 million cases as of Monday evening.
More than 71,000 people in India have died from covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, making it the worst-affected nation in Asia.
Unlike the United States and Brazil, where the numbers of new cases have eased in recent weeks, India's outbreak shows no sign of peaking. Since early August, India has been reporting the highest daily increases in cases in the world.
Infections have spread from major cities to every corner of the country, including to rural areas that are poorly equipped to test and treat patients.
In the spring, India instituted the world's largest lockdown to try to stem the pandemic. But the restrictions caused economic devastation and failed to reverse the trajectory of the outbreak. In early June, the government changed course.
Jayaprakash Muliyil, a leading Indian epidemiologist, predicted that India's daily reported cases will continue to rise in coming weeks. He estimates that the daily cases could double over the next month before retreating.
He criticized the government for implementing a harsh nationwide lockdown, calling it a "waste" that hurt the economy and people's livelihoods. The lockdown "was a cruel joke played on our poor in the name of covid," he said.
Now most of the shutdown measures have been lifted, although schools remain closed and large gatherings are still prohibited. On Monday, the subway system in New Delhi, India's capital, started transporting passengers again for the first time in more than five months.
As the country has reopened, coronavirus cases have surged. Testing has also expanded significantly, although the number of tests remains low on a per capita basis compared with other countries.
U.K. POLICY
Separately, Britain's government on Monday unveiled a new "islands policy" that will require anyone returning to England from the Greek islands of Crete, Mykonos, Santorini, Lesbos, Serifos, Tinos and Zakynthos to self-isolate for 14 days beginning early Wednesday.
The other Greek islands and the mainland remain free of quarantine requirements.
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes are part of a new targeted-risk approach to quarantine requirements to guard against importing coronavirus cases.
Britain has Europe's worst death toll from the virus, at more than 41,000. The actual toll is believed to be far higher as the government tally does not include those who died without having been tested.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care, the U.K. reported 2,948 new coronavirus cases Monday, down from the previous day's number of 2,988, which had been the highest since May.
The spike in U.K. cases follows big increases in Spain and France, both of which have seen the number of covid-19 patients being hospitalized rise dramatically during the summer.
Spain's Health Ministry on Monday reported 26,560 new infections since its previous report on Friday -- an average of 8,800 new infections a day.
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France has been averaging more than 5,000 new infections a day recently. In Marseille, doctors have raised the alarm that nearly all the intensive care beds reserved for covid-19 patients are already being used.
Over the past few weeks, British tourists have faced travel chaos as the government tweaked its weekly advice on popular holiday destinations.
The travel advice to the two most visited countries, Spain and France, changed on short notice, prompting many travelers to return to the U.K. in the middle of their vacations in order to avoid mandatory quarantines. Spain's Balearic and Canary Islands remain on the U.K. government's quarantine list.
Shapps said the government is "working actively on the practicalities of using testing to release people from quarantine earlier than 14 days."
Information for this article was contributed by Jeffrey Collins, Pan Pylas, Aritz Parra and Thomas Adamson of The Associated Press; and by Joanna Slater and Niha Masih of The Washington Post.
Fans watch the race during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Cars run through Turn 2 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
People eat ice cream outside a shop Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, in Sausalito, Calif. California is sweltering under a dangerous Labor Day weekend heat wave that was expected to spread triple-digit temperatures over much of the state while throngs of people might spread the coronavirus by packing beaches and mountains for relief. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
A jet skier passes a patriotic shanty-boat owned by AJ Crea on Pontoosuc Lake on Labor Day in Pittsfield, Mass., Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (Ben Garver/The Berkshire Eagle via AP)
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