In just a matter of days, America’s long effort to revive its virus-battered economy has been put on pause across much of the country as new infections soar at the fastest pace since the pandemic’s earliest days, Bloomberg News reported. California yesterday reinstituted bans on many indoor businesses across the state, and its governor warned he may impose a curfew. Michigan has ordered a three-week partial shutdown, while states including Oregon, Washington and New Jersey tightened curbs. Even the governor of Iowa, long resistant to virus rules, issued a limited mask mandate yesterday. The new restrictions follow a rapid surge in cases -- with the country adding a million infections in the first 10 days of November alone -- that has led health officials to issue dire warnings about the prospect of uncontrollable outbreaks as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. In a call with governors yesterday, Deborah Birx, a key member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, said the increase is showing no signs of a plateau and that nursing homes, in particular, are being hard-hit.
