With the COVID-19 pandemic not showing any sign of slowing down especially in both Europe and the US despite a lot of efforts being put in place to ensure that the curves can be flattened, one of the strict measure which initially caused a big ruin to the economy of different countries around the world is the total lockdown enforced by their governments.

France for example has made some lockdown regulations in form of curfew as well as other European countries as the continent braces for a second-wave of the pandemic.

Meanwhile in the US which is currently leading in the number of cases and fatalities, new report gotten from the New York Times has it that there could be another lockdown measure to be put in place in order to curb the spread in at least some 11 states within the United States.

As the year is running to a end and the winter season is on, there have been suggestion that some states may be on their way of experiencing a second-wave of the pandemic.

With that, there have been official reports from government of some of these states advising dwellers to brace for impact as that could affect movement. Avoiding “unnecessary or non-essential travel” is one of the warnings being put out to people while public places such as restaurants and bars are being restricted while others are placed on curfews.

But without any further ado, below are some of the 11 states in the U.S. that may be on their way of re-enforcing a new lockdown measure to curb the rapid spread of the Coronavirus as medical experts warn against second-wave of infection despite the millions already being infected in the country alone.

Connecticut

The governor of the state of Connecticut Ned Lamont had warned against unnecessary movement and enjoyed dwellers of the state to “stay close to home”.

The governor made this comment during an Oct. 19th press conference based on new cases emerging in the state. Over the past couple of weeks, there had been reports of some 118% increase in daily reported cases of the disease in the state according to the New York Times.

The state’s government was on its way of rolling back to the phase 2 of its reopening protocols which will put public places such as restaurants under curfew whereby they’ll need to close at 9:30 pm as well as increase the capacity limit from 50% to 75%.

Phase 2 also limits event venues to 25 people indoors and 50 outdoors, and caps religious gatherings at 50 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is smaller.

“We are putting in these restrictions on a statewide basis now to make sure we don’t have to do more severe things later,” Lamont said at a Nov. 2 press briefing. “Stay safe, stay home as much as you can and otherwise be careful.”

But as new cases surge, there could be a change in the approach on how the state will deal with the re-opening of the state considering the season changes and many other factors.

Massachusetts

The number of cases reported in the state of Massachusetts as of Nov. 3rd was in the north of 1,000 cases per day which is a whooping 82% increase in just 2 weeks.

With this new rise, the state’s governor Charlie Baker has enforced some new regulations in order to help fight the rising number of cases as well as making the usage of face masks as mandatory as possible especially in public places.

There is also a curfew that’s meant to stay on between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. while other public gathering and places such as restaurants, gyms, theaters and casinos are obligated to close by 9:30 p.m every night.

“COVID has come with all kinds of difficult decisions, difficulties—and, in many cases, tragedies—for virtually everybody,” Baker said Nov. 2 during a news conference. “One of the things that’s critical to us is that schools stay open, and that businesses continue to be able to operate.”

Illinois

The state of Illinois is the 3rd on the list of states considering regulatory measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The number of reported cases daily in the state of Illinois has risen to about 6,600 each day according to The New York Times which makes it’s increase on the average of 73% from just 2 weeks ago.

The increasing number of cases in the state has prompted Governor J.B. Pritzker the state will be tightening its restriction measures which will include ban on both indoor dining and bar services as well as outdoor dining which are obligated to close by 11 p.m. to the point that gatherings are to be limited to the maximum of 25 guests or t least 25% of overall room capacity.

Right after the Halloween, there were numerous parties that had to be broken up by authorities which prompted the state’s governor to plead with citizens to be more serious about the precautionary measure being put in place.

“Just like driving a car, when someone blows through a stoplight they not only risk their own life, but also the lives of all the other drivers around them,” Pritzker said in a Nov. 2 press conference. “Right now, the stoplight is red. Please act accordingly.”

New Mexico

The next on the list is the state of New Mexico whose cases has averaged some 788 per day which is about 40% increase since 2 weeks based on data gotten from The New York Times.

With the new cases, this is causing an overwhelming situation in the state’s hospitals with report stating that some 76% of all ICU beds have been occupied as of Nov. 3rd.

The Governor of New Mexico Michelle Lujan Grisham has therefore enforced regulations on hotels to reduce their maximum occupancy rates as well as gathering of more than five people to be prohibited which ultimately put businesses such as bars, restaurants as well as other physical places that people visit to adhere to curfew measures and the stated time for their closure each night is 10 p.m.

Her office also issued a statement saying that “all New Mexicans have been instructed to stay home except for outings absolutely necessary for health, safety, and welfare. These additional restrictions have been enacted to aggressively minimize person-to-person contact and ensure spread is mitigated.”

Colorado

The state of Colorado is also hard-hit by the Coronavirus pandemic Denver is now on the second-highest level of COVID-19 restrictions starting from Oct. 27th which has caused business to revert to a 25% capacity limit in order to limit the number of people allowed to gather and encourage the social distancing measures that’s being put in place.

Aside Denver, there are other counties in the state who are also on the verge of enforcing stricter rules as such on their dwellers in order to flatten the curve which keeps increasing everyday.

Idaho

Idaho has rolled back its Stage 3 COVID-19 restrictive measures which puts gathering under 50% or even much lesser while outdoor gathering are limited to just 25% of their capacity.

The reason for this move is to ensure the increasing case of the disease reduce drastically according to reports gotten from the state’s governor Gary Little.

“Things changed for the worst,” Little admitted at a press conference on Oct. 26. “Idaho is at a critical juncture. This is unacceptable and we must do better.”

Wisconsin

The rate of positive cases through COVID-19 tests conducted in Idaho has significantly increased over the past few weeks, prompting Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to implore his constituents to stay home. “Help us protect our communities from this highly contagious virus and avoid further strain on our hospitals,” Evers pleaded on Oct. 21. The increase in new cases has also led to the state reimposing an order that restricts indoor businesses to operate at just 25 percent capacity.

New York

To some, New York might be the Epicenter of the pandemic in the United States and that might be true but the state’s government is making sure that it can help fight the cases from getting further out of hand.

The state announced changes to its joint travel restrictions with New Jersey and Connecticut that now require anyone traveling from any state except bordering Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New Jersey to quarantine for three days after arriving and then receive a negative COVID-19 test result on the fourth day. The new system replaces a constantly changing list of states that were seen as high-risk based on coronavirus report metrics.

New Jersey

The state further join up with New York to battle the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by restricting unnecessary traveling as new cases surge. The New Jersey’s governor Phil Murphy urged his state’s residents not to travel.

“My advice is not to travel, frankly, regardless of where you’re going,” Murphy told reporters at a press conference on Oct. 19. “I would prefer they don’t travel and I don’t mean commuting into work and back—although there is a lot less of that than there was eight months ago—but I mean just as a general matter.”

With that, he had also ordered non-essential businesses in cities like Hoboken, Newark and Paterson to close by 8 p.m. each night. When asked by Yahoo Finance about issuing a second round of non-essential business closures, the governor said “We’re not there yet, but all options are on the table,” he said. “If we have to shut the whole place down we will. We were one of the first, if not the first state to do that in March. I just hope we can avoid it again this time.”

Pennsylvania

This is another big state in the U.S. and has entered into a joint effort with both New York and Connecticut to relax travel restrictions even though New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo still believes that all non-essential travel betwen the states shgould be avoided.

There is a 51% spike in the number of new cases over the past couple of weeks which has caused the Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley to warn that changes would be put in place.

“We’re not imposing any new restrictions today but we are considering a range of options,” he said.

Texas

Last but not not the least is the state of Texas which is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic and it has now surpassed California as the state with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States putting it at the north of 900,000 cases.

Counties like El Paso are experiencing serious increase in the number of cases resulting in the county enforcing a 2 weeks stay-at-home order for all its citizens with a daily curfew for the public between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m and any one who violates this will pay a fine of US$500.