Restrictions grow as pandemic rages in the U.S.

[NFA] Cities across the United States are imposing new restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of record new coronavirus infections but a top advisor for President-Elect Joe Biden said there are no plans to "shut the whole country down." Conway G.

Gittens reports.

Cities and states across the country are putting in new restrictions of all types in an effort to tamp down new infections of the coronavirus, which is raging out of control in the U.S. The Detroit public school district, the largest in Michigan, suspended face-to-face instruction until at least Jan.

11.

And New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio is revisiting a plan to switch to at-home learning as new coronavirus infections near a troubling level.

"Look, no one no one wants to see that happen.

I don't want to see that happen….

But we're preparing for that possibility." Meanwhile, the incoming administration is putting together a plan to combat the virus which for now does not include a national lockdown.

The head of Biden’s coronavirus advisory told Good Morning America Friday there are no plans to “shut the whole country down,” efforts at controlling the spread will instead be targeted to specific areas.

Colder temperatures have created a breeding ground for spreading the virus, says top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.

"Our baseline of infections all along has never gone down to a level that would allow you to be easily controllable when you get cases that soar up for a variety of reasons going into this ….

Right now as we begin the cool season of the fall and cold season of the winter that makes it very problematic, because people out of necessity will be congregating indoors instead of outdoors." Total COVID-19 cases across the United States hit an all-time daily high for a third straight day on Thursday, with the CDC reporting over 140,000 new cases.

It was the ninth straight day with over 100,000 cases, according to Reuters data.

California is now the second state, after Texas, to see its tally of confirmed infections climb above 1 million.

The number of Americans hospitalized with the virus set a new high as well, jumping by more than 40 percent in the past two weeks.

Deaths climbed by at least 1,170...bringing the death toll in the U.S. to roughly 243,000.

A Reuters tally of figures reported by U.S. public health agencies showed coronavirus cases more than doubling in 13 states in the past two weeks, most of them in the Midwest, led by Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois.

The situation is reaching a breaking point, says Illinois Governor J.B.

Pritzker.

"The numbers don't lie.

If things don't take a turn in the coming days we will quickly reach the point when some form of a mandatory stay at home order is all that we'll be left." One city in his state, Chicago, has done just that - issuing a 30-day stay-at-home advisory, with the mayor telling residents to cancel Thanksgiving.

Fauci, wouldn't go that far, but said holiday plans definitely need to be rethought given the current outbreak.

"Nothing is going to be perfect in this.

Even if it’s a relatively small group, keep the mask on if you’re indoors." With many months before an effective vaccine can be administered to the general public, medical experts say the safest thing to do is to go back to the basics taught this spring: face coverings, hand washing and social distancing.