Florida coronavirus cases surge for fifth day as Trump promises outbreak to be under control

(Reuters) – Florida on Sunday reported more than 12,000 new cases of COVID-19, the fifth day in a row that the state has announced more than 10,000 new infections, even as President Donald Trump promised that “it will be under control.”

The virus has claimed more than 140,000 lives in the US since the pandemic began, and records are destroyed daily by Florida, California, and other southern and western states.

Texas reported 7,300 new cases on Sunday after five consecutive days of new infections exceeding 10,000.

Despite record levels of new cases across the country, the Trump administration is pushing for schools to reopen in a few weeks and resisting the federal mandate to wear masks in public.

Trump, who faces a tough re-election battle in November, defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in an interview broadcast Sunday. The United States, with 3.7 million cases in total, has almost as many infections as the following three most affected countries: Brazil, India and Russia.

“We have embers and we have flames. Florida became more like a flame, but it’s … it’s going to be under control. ”

Trump on “Fox News Sunday” repeated his claim that the virus would eventually disappear.

“I will be right eventually,” he said. “It will disappear and I will be right.”

Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that cases and deaths could increase this fall and winter. Nearly the 20 forecast models used by the CDC project an increase in deaths in the coming weeks.

Across the United States, every measure to measure the outbreak is going in the wrong direction: increased cases, deaths, hospitalizations, and positive rates of test results.

At least 14 states have reported record coronavirus hospitalizations so far in July, including Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, and Texas.

Trump said he disagreed with CDC Director Robert Redfield that this fall and winter would be one of the most difficult times in American public health, as hospitals deal with seasonal flu in addition to cases. from COVID. “I don’t know and I don’t think he knows,” said Trump.

Trump also called Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, “a little alarmist.”

EXHAUST TESTING, DELAYS

Fauci warned that cases could soon exceed 100,000 a day if Americans don’t unite to take the necessary steps to stop the spread of the virus. The country has an average of 60,000 new cases per day and reported a record one-day increase of 77,299 on Thursday.

Insufficient evidence and delayed results in some states are hampering efforts to stem the outbreak, similar to situations that frustrated state officials and health experts at the start of the pandemic in March and April.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that people waited up to a week to find out if they tested positive.

“That really undermines the value of the evidence,” Collins said.

Philadelphia suburban resident Tamara Hala, 35, said she decided to take the test after attending a meeting where someone outside her group said COVID-19 was a “hoax”. But she has not yet received results from the July 8 test at a CVS store.

“I just can’t stop thinking about how many people potentially have it and don’t know it,” he said.

Rather than expanding the evidence, the Trump administration wants to block $ 25 billion for states to test and trace contacts, according to reports from the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The White House declined to comment to Reuters on those reports Sunday.

The number of COVID tests performed each day has doubled since the end of May, but is still less than that recommended by some health experts. The United States set a record on Friday with more than 850,000 tests conducted, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project here.