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Governor Kim Reynolds lifts COVID-19 restrictions in Iowa

Texas and Mississippi both announced they would lift their mask mandates (following Iowa and Montana, which did so last month) and allow businesses to operate at full capacity.

 Massachusetts removed capacity limits on restaurants.

South Carolina will allow gatherings of more than 250 people.      
But many of the changes that went into effect yesterday are different, these same experts say: They represent a rushed return to normalcy, rather than a careful weighing of costs and benefits.

 Connecticut will lift all capacity limits on certain businesses including restaurants, gyms, offices and houses of worship starting March 19, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday, going further than most other Democratic-led states to roll back Covid-19 restrictions 

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo broke days of silence amid allegations of sexual harassment by three women, apologizing for any offence taken but saying he won’t resign and denying ever “touching anyone inappropriately.”

“I certainly never meant to offend anyone or cause anyone any pain. This is the last thing I would ever want to do. I ask the people of the state to wait for the facts from the Attorney General’s report before forming an opinion. Get the facts please,” Cuomo said Wednesday of AG Leticia James’ probe.

I am not going to resign — I work for the people of the state of New York. They elected me and I’m going to serve the people of the state of New York, and by the way we have a full plate. We have Covid, we have recovery, we have rebuilding. We have a teetering New York City.”

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Abbott...

 

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said on Tuesday that he was ending his statewide mask mandate, effective March 10, and that all businesses in the state could then operate with no capacity limits. “It is now time to open Texas 100 percent,” he said.

“To be clear, Covid has not, like, suddenly disappeared,” Mr. Abbott said. “Covid still exists in Texas and the United States and across the globe.”

Even so, he said, “state mandates are no longer needed,” because advanced treatments are now available for people with Covid-19, the state is able to test large numbers of people for the virus each day, and 5.7 million vaccine shots have already been given to Texans.

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HSBC is set to withdraw from U.S. retail banking, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday, as Europe's biggest bank seeks to dispose of a business that has long underperformed.

The exit from the U.S. consumer business seeks to cut costs, boost fee income and continue the lender's shift towards Asia.

HSBC is to close 82 branches in the UK between April and September this year, claiming customers are turning to digital banking.

The company will have 511 branches across the country following the closure program.

Managers said they did not expect to make any redundancies, with staff moved to nearby branches instead.

Coronavirus and changing customer habits have altered the way we bank, but there are concerns over closures.