There are at least 2,739,092 coronavirus cases across the country. The previous record set Wednesday was 51,174.
As the numbers skyrocket, some states are changing their hearts on the face covers to combat the spread of the cornavirus. Texas has ordered residents to wear masks in public in hopes that the number of coronavirus cases will begin to drop. The second most populous state in the nation will not allow people in counties with 20 or more active Covid-19 cases to leave without covering their faces. About 95% of Texans live in those areas.
“We have the ability to keep business open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a salary, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect each other, and that means wearing a mask in public spaces. “Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.
There are exceptions to the order, including Texans under the age of 10 and people who have a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask. Repeating violations can result in a fine, the order says.
The directive comes when Texas, like other states, sees a jump in cases. Texas reported 7,915 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.
The Texas Democratic Party said Abbott, a Republican, had acted too late.
“This is unacceptable. Governor Abbott continues to lead from behind rather than implement preventive measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus,” the party said in a statement.
“Texans are still getting sick. Families are still suffering. Texans still don’t know how they are going to put food on the table,” the statement said. “All of this could have been avoided if Governor Abbott had listened to medical experts and professionals in the first place.”
“We are not going in the right direction,” says Fauci.
This occurs when the chief medical expert on the pandemic said the country is going in the wrong direction in its efforts to curb the virus.
Pandemic trends are not heading in a positive direction, but it is possible to balance the desire to reopen with precautions that may help delay the spread of the virus, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association. . .
“I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re not going in the right direction,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci said it is not about supporting the reopening or supporting public health measures.
“There is a sense of an all-or-nothing phenomenon, where you’re locked up or you’re just going to say … the devil can care and let it go,” Fauci said.
He added that the best way to reopen is to use public health measures wisely.
Wednesday saw record numbers
On Thursday, Florida reported 10,109 new cases of new coronaviruses, a new daily record.
The current increase in new cases is due to an increase in infections, not more evidence, said Admiral Dr. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Fourth could be a “perfect storm”
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.
On Thursday, Johns Hopkins University reported 25,345 new cases in the United States and 323 reported deaths.
The virus has killed more than 128,600 people and infected more than 2.7 million across the country.
Hydroxychloroquine study yields surprising results
A surprising new study found that the drug hydroxychloroquine helped patients survive better in hospital.
The study of 2,541 patients found that hospitalized patients who received hydroxychloroquine were much less likely to die, according to a team at the Henry Ford Health System in southeast Michigan.
Dr. Marcus Zervos, chief infectious disease division for the Henry Ford Health System, said 26% of those who did not receive hydroxychloroquine died, compared to 13% of those who received the drug. The team observed all treated in the hospital system from the first patient in March.
The finding is surprising because several other studies have found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine, a drug originally developed to treat and prevent malaria. President Trump touted the drug, but later studies found that patients not only did not improve if they received the drug, but were more likely to experience cardiac side effects.
The US Food and Drug Administration withdrew its emergency use authorization for the drug earlier this month, and trials worldwide, including trials sponsored by the World Health Organization and Institutes, were suspended. National Health.
“Our results differ from other studies,” Zervos told reporters. “What we think was important in ours … is that patients were treated early. For hydroxychloroquine to have a benefit, it must start before patients begin to experience some of the serious immune reactions that patients may have with Covid. “
The team also carefully monitored patients for heart problems, he said.
The findings were published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
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.
CNN’s Konstantin Toropin, Shelby Lin Erdman, Lauren Mascarenhas, Cheri Mossburg, Ralph Ellis, Jason Morris, Maria Cartaya, and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.
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