More than 20 states in the United States have either paused or partially reversed their staged reopening of the economy amid the resurgence in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. As the country's confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed three million Wednesday, the renewed threat of the coronavirus will likely undermine the public confidence, dampen consumer spending and investment, and weigh on the fragile recovery nationwide. What's more, the pandemic has worsened U.S. inequities in income, wealth, opportunity and race. The longer the current recession lasts or the weaker the recovery is, the greater the risk of lasting damage for female, minority, younger, and less-skilled workers, making the country more divided, economists and officials warned.
