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(Reuters) – New COVID-19 cases in the United States hit a two-month high on Friday with more than 58,000 reported coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in the Midwest at record levels for the fifth day in a row, according to Reuters. analysis.
Ten of the 50 states reported record increases in cases in one day on Friday, including the Midwestern states of Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. Wisconsin and Illinois recorded more than 3,000 new cases for the second day in a row, a two-day trend that had not been seen even during the peak of the previous outbreak in the spring, according to Reuters data.
The western states of Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming also reported their largest jumps in a day in the cases, as did Oklahoma and West Virginia.
So far in October, nineteen states have seen record increases in new cases. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2SFLb7o)
Amid the resurgence of cases across the country, President Donald Trump, who recently contracted COVID-19, addressed his supporters from the White House balcony on Saturday, a prelude to restarting his re-election campaign.
He is scheduled to travel to Florida on Monday.
Trump and his administration have faced criticism for their handling of the pandemic that has claimed more than 213,000 lives in the country, as well as a lax approach to wearing masks and social distancing in the White House.
While deaths nationwide continue to trend downward, the United States is losing an average of 700 lives a day. Three states reported a record spike in deaths in one day on Friday: Arkansas, Missouri and Montana. Health experts warn that deaths are a lagging indicator and generally rise weeks after cases rise.
The number of people succumbing to COVID-19 is expected to accelerate this winter.
The nation’s daily death rate is projected to triple by mid-January to 2,250, with a total of 395,000 deaths by February 1, 2021, according to a new update to the widely-cited model from the University of Washington.
But if Americans increase the use of masks to the level seen in Singapore, the death toll on February 1 would drop to 316,000, saving 79,000 lives, according to the University Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, whose model has been cited by the White House Task Force on Coronavirus.
Currently, there is no federal mandate to wear a mask and 17 states do not require them, according to a Reuters analysis.
In addition to the increase in cases, hospitals in several states are struggling to handle the influx of patients.
Seven states reported a record number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients on Friday: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
In the Midwest, hospitalizations rose to nearly 9,000, continuing a record streak that began Monday. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/3lwVO9f)
(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker; Additional reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by William Mallard and Rosalba O’Brien)
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