The United States reported more than 50,000 new coronavirus Wednesday, a record for a single day, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. Many states struggle to contain the spread of the pandemic, attributed in part to Americans who do not wear masks or who follow social distancing rules.
A growing number in California prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to announce just before the weekend of July 4 that he was closing bars, theaters and restaurants covered in most of the state, a region that includes about 30 million people and Los Angeles County.
“The bottom line is that the spread of this virus continues at a particularly worrying rate,” Newsom said.
Confirmed cases in California have increased nearly 50% in the past two weeks, and hospitalizations for COVID-19 have increased 43%. Newsom said California had nearly 5,900 new cases and 110 more deaths in just 24 hours.
Infections have also increased in states such as Arizona, Texas, and Florida, which registered more than 6,500 new cases. South Florida counties were closing beaches to fend off large July 4 crowds that could further spread the virus.
“Too many people crowded into restaurants late at night, turning these establishments into breeding grounds for this deadly virus,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said last week shouldn’t have rushed forward with reopening of bars.
“If I could go back and redo something, it would decrease the reopening of bars,” Abbott told ABC affiliate KIVA in El Paso. He said that a “bar setup, really, just doesn’t work with a pandemic.”
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As cases increase in states across the country, new infections in some eastern states, such as New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, are slowing significantly. New Jersey steps forward Thursday by allowing its famous Atlantic City casinos to reopen.
President Donald Trump seemed confident that the coronavirus would soon disappear.
“I think we are going to be very good with the coronavirus,” he told Fox Business. “I think at some point that will go away, I hope.”
The United States has reported nearly 2.7 million cases and more than 128,000 deaths. Globally, there have been 10.7 million cases of coronavirus, and more than 516,000 have died from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins count. The true cost of the pandemic is believed to be significantly higher, in part due to limited evidence and minor cases that have been lost.
The United States is not the only country to see a record number of new infections on Thursday. South African authorities reported 8,124 new cases, a new daily record. The country has the majority of cases in Africa with over 159,000 as it loosens what had been one of the strictest blockades in the world.
Johannesburg is a new hot spot with hundreds of infected healthcare workers, and Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, has more than 45,000 confirmed cases. The African continent has more than 405,000 confirmed cases overall.
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