The United States set another record for new coronavirus cases just days before the July 4 weekend, with at least 23 states pausing reopening plans to combat the growing infections.
© David J. Phillip / AP
Medical student Kimberly Olivares, left, takes a sample from a patient at a free COVID-19 test site provided by United Memorial Medical Center, Sunday, June 28, 2020, at the Mexican Consulate in Houston. Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Texas continue to rise. On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott closed the bars again and reduced the number of restaurants as cases rose to record levels after the state embarked on one of the fastest reopens in the United States.
There were 50,655 new coronavirus cases reported across the country on Wednesday, a one-day record. It took a little over two months to record numbers close to those across the country when the pandemic began. Last week, new cases also soared to a record high.
On Thursday, Florida reported 10,109 new cases of new coronaviruses, a new daily record. And at least five states, Arizona, California, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, reported a record number of new cases on Wednesday.
The current increase in new cases is due to an increase in infections, not more testing, Admiral Dr. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Thursday.
“There is no doubt that the more evidence you get, the more you will discover, but we believe this is a real increase in cases,” Giroir told the House Select Committee on Coronavirus. The increase is believed to be real because the percentage of patients with positive results is increasing, Giroir said.
Health officials are urging Americans to limit their holiday weekend festivities to avoid clusters of outbreaks.
“We know that people are tired of being locked up at home … but the cases increased after Memorial Day,” said Dean Sidelinger, the Oregon state health officer. “We don’t want the same thing to happen during the Independence Day holiday.”
In Nebraska, officials have warned residents to keep a contact list to follow up in the future if they have to invite guests for the holidays. They urged people to hold such events outdoors if possible, avoid sharing items like sunscreen, and maintain social distance.
The July 4 weekend could be the “perfect storm” for a peak in coronavirus cases, said Dr. Joshua Barocas, an infectious disease doctor at Boston Medical Center.
“The combination of travel, the combination of reopening, perhaps in some cases, too soon, and the combination of people who do not necessarily follow some of these preventive guidelines,” he said.
FDA Commissioner on Vaccine Target
One thing that could slow the march of the coronavirus is the development of a vaccine. Dr. Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said Thursday that the US remains the goal of having a vaccine available by the end of December or early next year.
“The FDA has given authorization to proceed with clinical trials for four separate vaccines and we have seen several vaccine developers come forward, double-digit numbers, so we have many different vaccines, so to speak, on target with respect to vaccines That’s good news, “Hahn told ABC’s Whit Johnson during an appearance on” Good Morning America. “
“We expect two of these vaccines to reach the final stage of clinical trials, which are large clinical trials, this month,” said Hahn.
“We are on target to reach a vaccine by the end of the year or early next year, so I am cautiously optimistic. Of course, it depends on the data generated from the trial.”
The United States may have more than one Covid-19 vaccine early next year as part of its Operation Warp Speed initiative, Gary Disbrow, acting director of the Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority, said during a Senate committee hearing Thursday. .
“We are fully committed to multiple companies in the manufacturing phase,” Disbrow said.
Operation Warp Speed aims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe and effective vaccine for Covid-19 in January.
Georgia Governor: “We are not out of the woods yet”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has been flying across the state encouraging people to wear face masks before the holiday weekend, though he has not issued a state-wide mask order.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” Kemp said Thursday during a press conference in Dalton. “We cannot be complacent.”
Kemp encouraged Georgians to continue social distancing, wash their hands and wear a mask or cover their faces.
When asked to explain, Kemp said, “We have a speed limit across the state, here in the city, on the interstate. Not everyone obeys that.”
Georgia has reported more than 81,000 confirmed cases and 2,800 deaths, with daily case counts reaching record levels recently.
The virus has killed some 128,000 people and infected more than 2.6 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The virus shows signs of resurgence.
As new cases emerge and states rethink reopens, some areas that have progressed against the virus are showing signs of a resurgence.
California was one of the first states to close with some of the strictest measures. On Wednesday, it reported 9,740 new cases, a number that included more than 3,800 previously unreported cases over a five-day period, authorities said.
More than 28 million Californians live in counties where dining rooms at restaurants, bars, and other indoor facilities are ordered to remain closed as Covid-19 cases increase. The closings affect 72% of the state’s population and include restaurants, breweries, museums, zoos and movie theaters for at least three weeks, Governor Gavin Newsom said.
“Simply put, the spread of this virus continues at a particularly worrying rate,” Newsom said.
Partly in reaction to Newsom’s order, the University of Southern California changed its plans to resume classes in person in the fall semester and urged students to take courses online.
Michigan is shutting down indoor bar service in most of the lower state.
Other states, such as Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, and Nevada, which have seen more than a 50% increase in cases, have paused or reversed their reopening plans.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced Thursday that the city will “return” to “Phase Two with modifications” because “Phase Three has not been effective. We will return to what we know to be effective in curbing the spread of the illness”.
© Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images
Traffic heads to Dodger Stadium when people arrive for coronavirus testing in Los Angeles.
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