News: The latest Covid-19 restrictions

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

The latest Covid-19 restrictions

Some states are rolling back reopening plans; the US will reduce its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Benjamin Rosenberg.

TOP NEWS

States reinstitute Covid-19 restrictions as winter looms

Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

As Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations spike to record levels all over the country, states are ramping back up on restricting gatherings and group activities. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that 41 counties were moving back into the state's most restrictive tier. [NYT / Jill Cowan]
Those 41 counties in the "purple" tier represent 94 percent of California's population, including all of Southern California. Bars that do not offer food were closed, indoor dining is off limits, and outdoor gatherings are limited to three households. [CNN / Christina Maxouris]
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a stay-at-home advisory — nowhere near as stringent as the shelter-in-place order he and other state and local officials issued in March. Garcetti told residents to stay home as much as possible through the Thanksgiving holiday. [Los Angeles Times / Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money, and Iris Lee]
Iowa issued a statewide mask mandate for the first time, as the state deals with one of the country's worst Covid-19 outbreaks. Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, said face coverings are required indoors and gatherings are limited to 30 people outside and 15 inside. [NBC News / Wilson Wong]
The mask mandate will last until at least December 10, although people eating in bars and restaurants or those attending religious services are exempt from it. Bowling alleys, arcades, pool halls, and indoor playgrounds are still open in Iowa, though they must close by 10 pm. [The Hill / Justine Coleman]
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, also announced new restrictions that will go into effect Wednesday. Indoor dining will be banned, high schools and colleges will go to fully remote learning, and organized youth sports will be suspended for at least three weeks. [Lansing State Journal / Craig Lyons]
Whitmer's decision prompted Dr. Scott Atlas, a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, to call on Michigan residents to "rise up" against the restrictions. Whitmer denounced Atlas's statement, calling it "incredibly reckless." [ABC News / Libby Cathey]
Another Democratic governor, Washington state's Jay Inslee, ramped up restrictions as well. Indoor gatherings are prohibited unless participants have quarantined for 14 days, and restaurants and fitness facilities will be limited to outdoor operations. [Seattle Times / Yasmeen Wafai]
Even North Dakota, the state with the worst outbreak in the country, is issuing new restrictions. The state did not impose a lockdown in the spring, but is now instituting a mask mandate, as well as the suspension of high school sports and other activities through mid-December. [Vox / Zeeshan Aleem]

Trump plans to cut troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 2,500 each

President Trump has told the Department of Defense to reduce the numbers of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 2,500 in each country by January 15, five days before he leaves office. Joe Biden will thus be the fourth president to deal with America's two longest wars. [Politico / Lara Seligman]
The US currently has 4,500 troops stationed in Afghanistan, the lowest number since the early days of the war after the 9/11 attacks. The timing of the withdrawal is notable considering Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper last week, with Christopher Miller replacing him. [CNN / Barbara Starr and Zachary Cohen]
Trump's decision comes as the Taliban, which the US swiftly defeated in late 2001, is regaining strength. The US reducing its presence in Afghanistan could also undermine the ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government. [NYT / Eric Schmitt, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Charlie Savage, and Helene Cooper]
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has criticized the planned withdrawal, saying that the consequences of pulling out of Afghanistan would be worse than Barack Obama cutting troops from Iraq in 2011, which helped lead to the rise of the Islamic State. [Vox / Alex Ward]
The move may not have much of an effect on the state of the war, however. The US will still be training parts of the Afghan military and conducting airstrikes against the Taliban, flying from Kuwait and other Middle East and Persian Gulf countries. [NPR / Dustin Jones]

MISCELLANEOUS

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that several Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are pressuring him to invalidate legal ballots to reverse Biden's narrow win in the state.

[Washington Post / Amy Gardner]

Russia's Covid-19 outbreak is likely much worse than the country's official numbers suggest. Vladimir Putin's government has 33,000 deaths from the virus, but the actual figure may be closer to 130,000. [CNN / Matthew Chance, Zahra Ullah, and Mary Ilyushina]
Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan resigned Monday after huge protests erupted in the wake of a peace agreement with Azerbaijan over fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. [AP / Avet Demourian]
Voter fraud is real — in New Zealand's "Bird of the Year" contest, anyway. More than 1,500 votes came in last week from the same email address, all of them for the little spotted kiwi. [NPR / Scott Simon and Emma Bowman]

VERBATIM

"This move of now 41 counties in total in purple, tells us exactly, underscores what the governor shared, which is this rapid rise in cases ... is absolutely essential for us to immediately take control of and manage."

[California Secretary of Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly, on the state's imposing more Covid-19 restrictions]