Watching Sun Belt spikes, other states back off on reopening

JAKE COYLE

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City and a number of states that likewise seemed to have tamed their coronavirus outbreaks are hitting pause on some of their reopening plans as they watch from afar the alarming surge in reported infections across the Sun Belt.

The run-up in cases — blamed in part on "knucklehead behavior" by Americans not wearing masks or obeying other social-distancing rules — has raised fears that many states could see the same phenomenon if they reopen too, or that people from the South and West could spread the virus to other regions.

New York M...