Among the sternest measures were in New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo added to a list totalling 22 states whose visitors will be required to quarantine for 14 days if they visit the tri-state region.
Out-of-state travellers arriving in New York airports from those states face a US$2000 fine and a mandatory quarantine order if they fail to fill out a tracing form.
The broad reach of the virus has brought scrutiny to governors' decisions. Oklahoma's Kevin Stitt, a first-term Republican who has backed one of the country's most aggressive reopening plans, became the first US governor to announce that he had tested positive for Covid-19. He plans to quarantine at home.
Stitt, who has resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself, attended US President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa last month, which health experts have said likely contributed to a surge in coronavirus cases there, though Stitt said he's confident he didn't contract the virus at the gathering.
"As far as where he became infected, it's really unknown," Oklahoma Health Commissioner Dr Lance Frye said.
Florida broke the 300,000 barrier on confirmed cases, reporting 10,181 new ones as its daily average death rate continues to rise. Major cities in Florida have imposed mask rules, but Governor Ron DeSantis has declined to issue a state-wide order, arguing those are best decided on and enforced locally.
Still, yesterday the Governor wore a mask while speaking publicly for the first time — at a round-table news conference with Miami-Dade County mayors.
"We have broken single-day records several times this week and there's nothing about it that says we're turning the corner, or seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I don't see that in the numbers," said Dr Nicholas Namias, chief of trauma and surgical critical care at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
He said diminishing bed capacity is creating problems at the Miami medical centre. "We're getting to the point where it's going to be full. We have gridlock and we won't be able to take patients and they'll just be stacked in the ERs," Namias said.
In Washington, a divided approach to the pandemic response spilled into public view in extraordinary fashion, with trade adviser Peter Navarro panning Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert. Fauci called the criticism "nonsense" and "a bit bizarre." Trump stepped in to referee, saying "we're all on the same team."
Other countries imposed lockdowns and implemented new health checks at their borders.
All travellers arriving in Greece from a land border with Bulgaria were required to carry negative coronavirus test results issued in the previous 72 hours. The new rules, which follow an increase in tourism-related Covid-19 cases, triggered an immediate drop in arrivals compared to recent days.
Traffic at the crossing fell by about half, authorities said, but a line of cars and trucks was over 500m long as the number of tests carried out by medical teams at the border were increased.
Gergana Chaprazova, 51, from Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, planned to visit the Greek seaside town of Kavala with her husband, and complained that she was being tested again.
"I have to wait for a test but I (already) have a test from Bulgaria. I don't understand why I must have a test here," she said.
The developments came as more than than 13 million coronavirus cases were confirmed worldwide, with over 578,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
After a surge in daily infections beginning last month, Israel moved last week to reimpose restrictions, closing events spaces, live show venues, bars and clubs. It has imposed lockdowns on areas with high infection rates, which in some cases sparked protests from residents.
Officials warned that if case numbers don't come down in the coming days, Israel will have no choice but to lock the entire country down again, as it did in the spring.
South Africa is already showing signs of being overwhelmed by the pandemic — an ominous outlook for the rest of the continent of 1.3 billion people.
A ban on alcohol sales and a night curfew were reimposed this week to reduce the volume of trauma patients to hospitals that are struggling to cope with an influx of Covid-19 patients.
- AP
