The Big U-turn

The Big U-turn

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California has shut down bars and halted indoor dining at restaurants for most of its residents.Credit...Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse “” Getty Images

July 2, 2020Updated 8:35 a.m. ET

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Reopenings are reversing

As coronavirus cases surge to yet more highs, U.S. cities, states and companies are increasingly changing course on reopening, threatening what was emerging as a fragile economic recovery.

Nearly 50,000 Covid-19 cases were reported in the U.S. yesterday, the fifth record set in eight days. Three states suffered new highs as well, prompting more rollbacks:

“¢ New York City reversed plans to let indoor dining at restaurants resume, while Miami Beach reinstated a nightly curfew. California shut down bars and indoor restaurant dining for most of its residents.

“¢ McDonald's paused plans to reopen more of its restaurants for 21 days, while Citigroup delayed the reopening of offices in 13 states.

“¢ The halt in reopenings has led to a dispiriting trend: workers who were rehired, only to be laid off again.

All of that threatens America's economic comeback, which The Times's Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman note had already begun to slow. Minutes from the last meeting of Fed officials, released yesterday, show pessimism within the central