Only two US states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week: Connecticut and Rhode Island. A rise was reported in a staggering 36 states, including Florida, which some experts have cautioned could be the next epicenter for infections. Officials there and across the US are also warning of an increase […]
by: CNN Wire
Only two US states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week: Connecticut and Rhode Island.
A rise was reported in a staggering 36 states, including Florida, which some experts have cautioned could be the next epicenter for infections. Officials there and across the US are also warning of an increase in cases among younger people.
Florida reported 9,585 new coronavirus cases Saturday, a single-day record since the start of the pandemic. The number rivals those of New York’s peak in early April (New York’s new case tally Saturday was about 6% of Florida’s). On Sunday, Florida’s Department of Health reported another 8,530 new cases.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state’s surge in cases in the past week was the result of a “test dump,” echoing an assertion from the White House that an increase in testing is resulting in the higher numbers.
The ex-head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contended the increase was actual, not an anomaly related to testing numbers, and warned more spread and deaths were in the country’s future.
“As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100% certainty that in most states where you’re seeing an increase, it is a real increase. It is not more tests; it is more spread of the virus,” former CDC Director Tom Frieden told Fox News on Sunday.
In the South, the numbers are rising as a result of hasty reopenings, he said, and it’s “going to continue to get worse for weeks.” Deaths are not yet spiking because deaths lag infections by about a month, he said, estimating the nation will see at least 15,000 more deaths in the next month.
“This virus still has the upper hand,” Frieden told Fox News.
This all came as the United States broke another record, reporting the highest number of new cases in a single day Friday with at least 40,173 new infections.
The daunting numbers could be “a tip of the iceberg,” Frieden said. A CDC survey suggests the total number of coronavirus infections across the US could actually be six to 24 times greater than reported.
As cases spike, US travelers are “unlikely” to be allowed into the European Union as the bloc begins opening up to international travel, several EU diplomats told CNN.
Officials in parts of the US are now trying to reel in the spread of the virus — which many experts have said is spiraling out of control — by making pleas to the country’s young population to keep their distance, urging the use of face masks and halting their reopening plans.
The US has now hit almost 2.54 million infections and at least 125,747 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The 36 states reporting a rise in cases are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
