WASHINGTON--More states in the U.S. South and Midwest signaled readiness on Wednesday to reopen their economies in hopes the worst of the coronavirus pandemic had passed, but California's governor held firm to sweeping stay-at-home orders and business closures.
The patchwork of still-evolving orders across the 50 states meant some Americans were still confined indefinitely to their homes, unable to work, while others began to venture out for the first time in weeks. "I wish I could prescribe a specific date to say that we can turn on that light switch and go back to normalcy," California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in his daily remarks to the nation's most-populous state on the coronavirus crisis.
"We have tried to make it crystal clear that there is no light switch and that there is no date in terms of our capacity to provide the kind of clarity that I know so many of you demand and deserve," Newsom said.
The governor said that among the steps health officials would need to take before 40 million Californians could return to jobs, schools and stores would be ramping up testing for the virus to 25,000 patients a day. Newsom said U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, had committed to sending 100,000 testing swabs next week and 250,000 the following week.
Health officials in Santa Clara County, California, said on Wednesday the virus appeared to have circulated there in January, weeks earlier than thought, and early deaths were likely mistaken for the flu. Nationwide, U.S. deaths totaled 47,050 on Wednesday, up about 1,800, with some states yet to report. The United States has the world's largest number of cases at over 830,000.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has faced criticism from conservative activists over her strict stay-at-home policies, said she would announce more details on Friday on her planned reopening of the state's economy.
Ohio officials said they would soon disclose their plans as well and governors of Midwest states have said they were working together to sketch out a plan for lifting the restrictions. Michigan and Ohio are key electoral swing states that Trump won in the 2016 election.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said he would announce in detail next week preparations to reopen as many businesses as possible in the first week of May.
