Coronavirus News: June 24, 2020 – N.Y. Metro Area to Require 14-Day Quarantine, Marathon Cancelled

By Anna Breuer on 24 June 2020
  • Share

42nd Street in New York City

Good morning. The number of new coronavirus cases in the world keeps going up and now stands at 9.34 million, an increase of over 162,994 people in the past 24 hours.   The situation is particularly critical in Brazil and parts of the United States, where some states reopened their economies.

Here’s what you need to know for Wednesday, June 24.

Russia held a belated Victory Day celebration.  Traditionally held for May 9, parades were postponed due to the pandemic, which shows no sign of waning there.  President Vladimir Putin celebrated Russia’s victory 75 years ago against National Socialist Germany and presided over a largely maskless parade of thousands of shoulders marching, while numerous veterans, some in the 80s and 90s, joined the president on the reviewing stand, also without wearing masks.

The International Monetary Fund said that the global economy will shrink by 4.9%, a far more dismal forecast than a 3% prediction it made in April.

As the United States continues to reopen its economy, it recorded the third-highest number of new infections since the start of the pandemic, prompting New York, along with neighboring states New Jersey and Connecticut, to they will require visitors from states with high rates of transmission of the coronavirus, such as Florida and Texas, to quarantine themselves for 14 days if they visit the region.

Governor Andrew Cuomo stressed the state does not want to see these “numbers reverse.”

The list of states on the quarantine list as of Wednesday are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

The number of cases is rising in more than 20 states, mostly in the South and West. Texas recorded over than 5,000 cases on Tuesday, its largest single-day total yet, prompting Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to say, “I strongly feel we are moving in the wrong direction and we are moving fast.”

Elsewhere in the region, Arizona reported more than 3,600 cases, also a record.

In Washington, where health officials reported case figures that are again trending upward, the governor there said residents and visitors would be required to wear masks in public.

The New York City Marathon – the world’s largest – has been cancelled due to the pandemic, officials there said. The race would have celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Accura News