ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial start of summer in the United States meant big crowds at beaches and warnings from authorities Sunday about people disregarding the coronavirus social-distancing rules and risking a resurgence of the scourge that has killed nearly 100,000 Americans.
Meanwhile, the White House broadened its travel ban against countries hard-hit by the virus by saying it would deny admission to foreigners who have recently been in Brazil.
Sheriff's deputies and beach patrols tried to make sure people kept their distance from others as they soaked up the rays on the sand and at parks and other recreation sites around the country.
In the Tampa area along Florida's Gulf Coast, the crowds were so big that authorities took the extraordinary step of closing parking lots because they were full.
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On the Sunday talk shows, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said she was "very concerned" about scenes of people crowding together over the weekend.
"We really want to be clear all the time that social distancing is absolutely critical. And if you can't social distance and you're outside, you must wear a mask," she said on ABC's This Week.
In Missouri, people packed bars and restaurants at the Lake of the Ozarks, a vacation spot popular with Chicagoans, over the weekend. One video showed a crammed pool where vacationers lounged close together without masks, St. Louis station KMOV-TV reported.
In Daytona Beach, Fla., gunfire broke out Saturday night along a beachside road where more than 200 people had gathered and were seen partying and dancing despite the restrictions. Several people were wounded and taken to the hospital, authorities said.
"Disney is closed, Universal is closed. Everything is closed, so where did everybody come with the first warm day with 50% opening? Everybody came to the beach," Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a Sunday news conference, referring to crowds in the Daytona Beach area.
On Georgia's Tybee Island, the beach was filled with families, bicyclists, beach chairs, games, swimmers and more. On a main drag, people lined the sidewalk at Wet Willie's, a chain bar that sells frozen cocktails. Most stood close together -- not nearly 6 feet apart -- and none wore masks.
But at a nearby grocery store, staff members handed customers gloves and a number to keep track of how many people were inside at a time. Shoppers had their own masks.
Officials in California said most people were covering their faces and keeping their distance even as they ventured to beaches and parks.
At New York's Orchard Beach in the Bronx, children played with toys and people sat in folding chairs. Some wore winter coats on a cool and breezy day, and many wore masks and sat apart from others.
"Good to be outside. Fresh air. Just good to enjoy the outdoors," said Danovan Clacken, whose face was covered.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke to reporters at Jones Beach on Long Island, a popular spot for New Yorkers that's open at half capacity for the weekend, to underscore progress made since the worst of the outbreak in April.
But even as he marked new steps in reopening, Cuomo said he didn't "believe this economy just bounces back," and he urged the state to rebuild better after the nation's worst outbreak of covid-19.
The U.S. is on track to surpass 100,000 coronavirus deaths in the next few days, while Europe has seen more than 169,000 dead, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University that almost certainly understates the toll. Worldwide, more than 5.4 million people have been infected and 345,000 have died.
The New York Times devoted Sunday's entire front page to a long list of names of those who have died in the United States. The headline: "An Incalculable Loss."
'HERE I AM'
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who went golfing for the second day in a row after not playing for weeks, said on the syndicated Sunday program Full Measure With Sharyl Attkisson that he is feeling fine after a two-week course of the unproven malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and a zinc supplement.
"Finished, just finished," Trump said in the interview, which was taped Friday. "By the way, I'm still here to the best of my knowledge. Here I am."
Trump, who at 73 is in an age group at which contracting covid-19 can be especially dangerous, began the treatments in consultation with White House physicians after Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary and a White House valet tested positive early this month.
"I believe in it enough that I took a program, because I had two people in the White House that tested positive, I figured maybe it's a good thing to take a program," Trump said.
"You know we take a little bit of a period of time, I think it was two weeks, but hydroxy has had tremendous, if you look at it, tremendous, rave reviews."
BRAZIL RESTRICTION
Also Sunday, the Trump administration further limited travel from the world's coronavirus hot spots by denying entry to foreigners coming from Brazil, which is second to the U.S. in the number of confirmed cases.
Trump had already banned certain travelers from China, Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Iran. He has not moved to ban travel from Russia, which has the world's third-highest caseload, and the White House did not immediately respond to queries about whether a ban would be extended there.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany cast the Brazil step as another "decisive action to protect our country" by the president, whose management of the crisis has come under sharp scrutiny.
"Today's action will help ensure foreign nationals who have been in Brazil do not become a source of additional infections in our country," McEnany said.
Filipe Martins, who advises Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on international affairs, said the U.S. was treating Brazil as it had other populous countries and suggested the news media were overplaying Trump's ban.
"By temporarily banning the entry of Brazilians to the U.S., the American government is following previously established quantitative parameters that naturally reach a country as populous as ours," Martins tweeted. "There isn't anything specifically against Brazil. Ignore the hysteria from the press."
Bolsonaro has downplayed the coronavirus by repeatedly calling it a "little flu" and insisting that closing businesses and issuing stay-at-home recommendations will ultimately cause more hardship by wrecking the economy.
EUROPEAN HOLIDAY
Across Europe on Sunday, people soaked up the sun where they could, taking advantage of the first holiday weekend since coronavirus restrictions were eased, while governments grappled with how and when to safely let in foreign travelers to salvage the vital summer tourist season.
Overjoyed French families flocked to the Grande Motte beach on the Mediterranean shore, swimming and sunbathing in areas marked to keep a distance from others. Cordons of ropes and wooden stakes were neatly spaced out across the sand, giving each visitor or group an 85-square-foot space of their own.
Online reservations are required though free of charge, and there is already a two-day waiting list. Those lucky enough to get a spot for a four-day weekend relished the opportunity, frolicking beneath a summer-like sun. Beaches have also reopened elsewhere in France, but only for individual sports or walks, and visitors weren't allowed to sit or lie down.
Yet even as social distancing rules spread families and friends out across beaches and parks, the virus remained a constant threat. And across the continent, a mishmash of travel restrictions appears to be on the horizon, often depending on where travelers live and what passports they carry.
Beginning today, France is relaxing its border restrictions, allowing in migrant workers and family visitors from other European countries. Italy, which plans to open regional and international borders June 3 in a bid to boost tourism, is only now allowing locals back to beaches in their own regions with restrictions.
For the first time in months, the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the traditional Sunday papal blessing, but they kept their distance from one another. About 2,000 Muslims gathered for Eid al-Fitr prayers at a sports complex in a Paris suburb, spaced 3 feet apart and wearing masks.
Beachside communities in England urged Londoners and others to stay away after rules were eased to allow people to drive any distance for exercise or recreation.
In Germany, a state governor's proposal to end blanket restrictions in his region, which would be a first for the country after a comparatively successful response to the pandemic, drew mounting criticism from other officials.
Bodo Ramelow, the governor of the eastern state of Thuringia, said Saturday that he hopes to lift the remaining statewide lockdown rules June 6 and replace them with "a concept of recommendations and fighting covid-19 locally if infection figures rise."
The idea centers on taking action in individual cities or counties if they report 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week. That's a lower threshold than the 50 that is currently the national standard.
While the proposal draw some praise, there was criticism from the mayor of one of the state's biggest cities, Jena, which pioneered requiring people to wear face masks in some situations.
"Thuringia's plans are a highly dangerous experiment for everyone in this country," Florian Herrmann told the Bild newspaper. "Lifting all protective measures comes too soon and isn't appropriate in the current situation, because the virus hasn't yet been defeated."
Information for this article was contributed by Curt Anderson, Brian Mahoney, Darlene Superville, David Biller, Marcelo de Sousa and staff members of The Associated Press; and by Mario Parker and Ian Fisher of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 05/25/2020