Sergeant Katie Turner of the Texas National Guard directs a car at a drive-up COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot of Memorial Swimming Pool on May 18, 2020 in El Paso, Texas (Paul Ratje)

Houston (AFP) – Bars in the US state of Texas will start reopening late this week as the Lone Star State gets further back in business, authorities said Monday despite a rise in cases of coronavirus.

After weeks of lockdown in an effort to curb the spread of new coronavirus, US states are allowing various degrees of reopening to address the economic devastation that has seen 30 million jobs lost.

Federal guidelines call for a 14-day decline in cases before a phased comeback, but Texas is among areas going ahead even though cases of coronavirus have gone up. On Saturday they spiked to 1,801, the highest since the pandemic began.

South Florida is also gradually trying to return to normality, and on Monday saw some restaurants and stores opening their doors in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. But the area’s beaches will remain closed until further notice.

In Texas, under so-called Phase 1 reopening which began May 1, restaurants, museums, beaches and shopping malls were permitted to get back to work but at 25 percent of their normal capacity. Hair, tanning and nail salons reopened May 8. And on Monday it was the turn of gyms and day care facilities.

Governor Greg Abbott said bars can pour drinks again from Friday.

“Texas is prepared to move into phase two for further opening up for business,” he told a press conference in the capital Austin.

Abbott said he was delaying the reopening by a week for cities that are particularly hard hit such as El Paso and Amarillo.

Texas has confirmed 48,693 cases of COVID-19, including 1,347 deaths.

– Masks required –

In south Florida, Phase One of reopening after the coronavirus lockdown excludes hotels, bars, night clubs, gyms, cinemas and massage parlors.

Restaurants can only open to 50 percent of their capacity and all clients and staff in stores that do re-open have to don masks, as do all passengers passing through Miami’s international airport.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Governor Ron DeSantis said on Sunday. 

DeSantis, a supporter of President Donald Trump, initially resisted issuing a statewide lockdown order but after weeks of debate he finally gave in.

The reopening in south Florida is happening at different speeds in the region’s complex system of counties and cities, which has led to some confusion about what is allowed where. 

For example, the separate jurisdictions of Miami and Miami Beach, both within Miami-Dade County, each hope to open some shops by Wednesday and to have restaurants functional by May 27.

The goal is to avoid a wave of tourists visiting the area during the long weekend of Memorial day, which falls next Monday.

But Fort Lauderdale in Broward County did open some gyms and restaurants on Monday, although at lunch time the seaside promenade was not very busy.

“I feel so great because we’ve been, like, for so long at home doing nothing and now that you see people again, and to be back, it feels really good,” said Nathalie White, a 28-year-old waitress.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.