Facing budget shortfalls and double-digit unemployment,
governors of U.S. states that are COVID-19 hotspots on Thursday pressed ahead
with economic reopenings that have raised fears of a second wave of infections.
The moves by governors of states such as Florida and Arizona
came as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States could not
afford to let the novel coronavirus shut its economy again and global stocks
tanked on worries of a pandemic resurgence.
As Florida reported its highest daily tally of new
coronavirus cases on Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a plan to restart
public schools at “full capacity” in the autumn, arguing the state’s economy
depended on it.
North Carolina reported record COVID-19 hospitalizations for
a fifth straight day on Thursday, a day after legislators passed a bill to
reopen gyms, fitness centers and bars in a state where more than one in ten
workers are unemployed.
Governors of hotspot states face pressure to fire up
economies facing fiscal year 2021 budget shortfalls of up to 30% below
pre-pandemic projections in the case of New Mexico, according to data from the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities think tank. Nevada, which has seen cases
increase by nearly a third in the past two weeks, is suffering 28%
unemployment, based on U.S Bureau of Labor statistics.
“This is about saving lives, this is also about livelihoods
in the state of Arizona,” Governor Doug Ducey told a news briefing, adding that
a second shutdown of the economy was “not under discussion” despite official
figures showing a 211% rise in virus cases over the past 14 days.
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