The United States set a new record Thursday for the largest single-day increase in coronavirus infections as Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top-ranking infectious diseases expert, warned of a second wave.
July 2 (UPI) — The United States on Thursday set a new record for the largest single-day increase in coronavirus infections as Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top-ranking infectious diseases expert, warned there’s a risk of an even larger spread of COVID-19.
Though their numbers vary, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Worldometer.info all recorded more than 55,000 new cases on Thursday, trumping their previous record tallies set the day prior.
Health officials at Johns Hopkins University also said Thursday set a record high for the United States but at more than 51,000 cases.
Thursday not only broke the previous record set a day prior but was continuing a trend of skyrocketing infections that began about mid-June as states started opening up.
President Donald Trump late Thursday attributed the rise in cases on Twitter to an increase in testing.
«There is a rise in coronavirus cases because our testing is so massive and so good, far bigger and better than any other country,» he said. «This is great news, but even better news is that death, and the death rate is DOWN.»
A total of 687 deaths were reported over the previous 24 hours, which is continuing a gradual decline from a high of more than 2,700 deaths on April 21, according to Worldometers.info.
The virus has infected more than 2.8 million people in the United States, resulting in some 130,000 deaths since the first case was diagnosed in the country mid-January, making it by far the worst affected nation in the world.
Several states have documented a surge in cases recently, and Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said a lack of uniformity among safety measures and compliance is the most likely cause.
«What we’ve seen over the last several days is a spike in cases that is way beyond the worst spikes that we have seen,» Fauci told BBC Radio.
