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Thursday, 28 March 2024

All 50 U.S. states reopening in varying degrees

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All 50 U.S. states reopening in varying degrees
All 50 U.S. states reopening in varying degrees

As of Wednesday, all 50 states were allowing some level re-openings for certain businesses, with some moving before meeting federal guidelines.

This report produced by Chris Dignam.

All 50 U.S. states were in varying stages of reopening on Wednesday, ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend, two months after restrictions on businesses ravaged the U.S. economy.

"All 50 states in America have now begun to partially open up... We have a ways to go but we can see light at the end of the tunnel." Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Florida to discuss a phased economic reopening with Governor Ron DeSantis.

The two men wore masks while delivering PPE to a nursing home in Orlando, but didn't wear them to a burger joint, where social distancing appeared to be near impossible.

Restaurants in Florida and other states across the U.S. south are operating at 50% capacity.

Most states in that region moved to reopen businesses before meeting federal guidelines.

In harder-hit states, including New York and New Jersey, a more limited reopening is allowing for only curbside pickup.

"If you don't include New York and New Jersey, we're just about in a class by ourselves." On Wednesday, President Donald Trump met with the governors of Arkansas and Kansas to discuss their states' response efforts and restarting their economies.

"We're gonna open up very big." Trump has said the nation needs to move forward with lifting restrictions in order to limit the damage to an economy suffering its worst crisis since the Great Depression.

As of Wednesday, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus stood at roughly 93,000.

Political divisions have widened between Americans chafing under restrictions and those who argue for a more cautious path to reopening.

This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidance for reopening the country.

In it, the CDC said schools should pursue a carefully phased reopening, potentially setting up the next political battleground.

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