California and Texas are among the states that set new daily records.
California hit new highs in both coronavirus deaths and total cases on Wednesday as worrying data emerged in the United States and more than 1,100 deaths were reported for the second day in a row.
Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia reported their highest daily case numbers on Wednesday, while Alabama, Idaho and Texas reported daily death records, according to a New York Times database.
Nationwide, 69,707 new cases of the virus were reported on Wednesday. The total number of confirmed cases in the United States was expected to exceed 4 million on Thursday.
And 59,628 people were being treated in hospitals on Wednesday, according to the Covid Monitoring Project. That’s near the peak of 59,940 on April 15, when the center of the outbreak was New York. Experts have warned that the data probably does not count both cases and deaths.
Some, including President Trump, have said that more evidence explains the increase in the number of cases, but The Times found that the recent increase in cases far outweighs the increase in evidence.
After warning Tuesday that the virus “would get worse before it got better,” Trump backed down on Wednesday to say the virus tests were “overrated” and “make us look bad.” He accused Democrats of sounding the alarm about the virus for political reasons.
“Look,” Trump said, “on November 4, everything will open.”
The 1,130 deaths announced Wednesday in the United States were the highest total of single-day deaths since May 29, with the exception of two anomalous days in June, when large numbers of deaths of unknown dates were reported.
In Texas, which recorded 201 deaths on Wednesday, a steady increase in the number of daily deaths has coincided with a similar increase in reported cases.
California recorded at least 155 deaths and 12,162 cases on Wednesday, both records. With more than 422,000 cases, the state has now reported more cases than New York, the early center of the pandemic in the United States.
And Louisiana, which is in the midst of its second pandemic surge, overtook New York as the state with the best-known per capita cases in the country, though evidence was sparse when cases peaked in New York this spring.
As the number of coronavirus cases has grown in the United States, another troubling trend has emerged: Landlords are beginning eviction proceedings even though the federal CARES Act still protects millions of tenants. The four-month hiatus in eviction cases will expire later this week.
However, homeowners in Tucson, Arizona filed dozens of eviction cases last month despite the federal moratorium, which was established due to the pandemic.
State and local governments have also issued eviction moratoriums, but the CARES Act is the most widespread, covering up to 12.3 million tenants living in apartment complexes or single-family homes financed by a federally-backed mortgage. But like other moratoriums, it is about to expire: After Friday, landlords can file eviction notices for not paying rent. It will be at least 30 days before tenants are evicted.
The CARES Law does not penalize owners who violate the moratorium.
The Private Equity Stakeholders Project, a consumer advocacy group, found more than 100 eviction requests in apparent violation of the CARES Act in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas.
And in a survey of 100 Legal Aid attorneys in 38 states, all but nine said they knew of attempted illegal eviction in their cities. That led the group to create a draft complaint to challenge a violation of the CARES Law moratorium.
Having multiple jobs has become a regular business for millions of Americans. But many makeshift employment deals, which allowed people to survive when the unemployment rate dropped to record lows, collapsed after the pandemic froze large sectors of the economy.
People who rely on paychecks from different employers are already more likely to have shifting schedules and unpredictable weekly checks, low hourly wages, and no benefits like sick days and health insurance. And when the tough times come, they are excluded from regular state unemployment benefits.
The latest government unemployment figures will be released on Thursday. For 17 consecutive weeks, there have been more than a million new jobless claims, and this morning’s account is expected to extend that streak. The question is whether the number of claims will grow as blocking restrictions have been put in place to stop the virus from spreading.
Republican Senate leaders and White House officials on Wednesday expressed confidence that they had agreed in principle on a coronavirus relief package that would send additional checks directly to Americans. But some of the biggest problems, including what to do with improved unemployment insurance and President Trump’s proposal to reduce the payroll tax, were not finalized.
Two cafeterias used by White House staff members were closed and contacts were tracked after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, a Trump administration official said Wednesday.
Cafeterias are located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the new Executive Office Building, which are part of the White House complex and are adjacent to the West Wing.
It was not immediately clear if the employee was a cafeteria worker, and the White House did not say what kind of symptoms the person was displaying.
The White House notified employees of the measures in an email and said they did not need to be quarantined, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation.
In May, a military aide who had contact with President Trump tested positive for the virus, as did Katie Miller, press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence.
They worked and lived together in a Michigan convent: some for more than half a century, many pursuing higher education and each with a variety of interests. In the end, 12 Feliciana sisters, aged between 69 and 99, would also die in the same way, from Covid-19 and its effects, within a month, according to their order.
After the first 12 deaths from April 10 to May 10, a sister number 13 in the convent, the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Livonia, Michigan, died of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, June 27. .
The virus, which feeds on the elderly and thrives wherever people are in close contact, may have posed a particular danger to the sisters, who live in community.
The deaths deeply affected the communities where the sisters worked in schools, libraries and the medical field, according to the order in a statement.
All of the women were members of the Feliciary congregation for at least 50 years, according to obituaries provided by Suzanne English, executive director for the advancement of the sisters’ mission.
For example, Sister Celine Marie Lesinski, who died at age 92, worked for 55 years in education, including 27 years as a librarian. And a former director of nursing, Sister Victoria Marie Indyk, who died at age 69, was a professor of nursing at Madonna University and was known for leading nurses on mission trips to support the Felicianas sisters’ mission in Haiti. .
Major League Baseball begins a shortened season on Thursday, and Times columnist Tyler Kepner writes that the only certainty is a lot of uncertainty:
Baseball makes you wait. That is part of its old world charm. The story takes time to reveal itself, step by step, entry by entry, game by game by … well, you understand the idea. Players face a rigorous six-month schedule, with few days off. No other professional athlete spends so many days performing.
So what will it be like now, after more than four months in hibernation since the coronavirus pandemic closed spring training in mid-March? We’ll find out on Thursday when Major League Baseball begins its 60-game schedule with two games: the Yankees at the Nationals in Washington and the Giants at the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Prepare for rule changes, extensive security protocols, and many unknowns.
“It’s hard for those of us in baseball because we want to be informed about what’s going on,” said longtime broadcaster Jim Kaat, 81, who pitched for 25 seasons in the majors, “and sometimes the hardest part of saying is, “I don’t know. ‘”
Talking to children about the virus.
Initially, you probably had to explain the coronavirus to your children in terms of staying indoors, closing schools, and washing their hands. But as the weeks go by and life slowly changes, the conversations should continue. Here are some ideas for discussions.
The reports were contributed by Emily Cochrane, Patricia Cohen, Matthew Conlen, Nicholas Fandos, Manny Fernández, Matthew Goldstein, J. David Goodman, Maggie Haberman, Christine Hauser, Jim Tankersley, Daniel Victor, Neil Vigdor and Allyson Waller.
