Will long Labor Day weekend mean another coronavirus spike?

By PAT EATON-ROBB and THALIA BEATY Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Americans are heading into Labor Day weekend amid warnings from public health experts that backyard parties, crowded bars and other gatherings could cause the coronavirus to come surging back. The rise in infections, deaths and hospitalizations over the summer was blamed in part on Americans behaving heedlessly over other long holiday weekends. Things have improved in recent weeks, but there are certain risk factors in the mix: children going back to school, university campuses seeing soaring case counts, college football starting, more businesses open and flu season around the corner. The virus is blamed for about 187,000 deaths and almost 6.2 million confirmed infections in the United States. Those are by far the highest totals in the world.