A patient is taken to Houston Methodist Hospital as storm clouds gather over the Texas Medical Center, amid the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Houston, Texas, USA. USA, June 22, 2020.
Callaghan O’Hare | Reuters
The United States added more than 31,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday as the seven-day average of new daily cases continues to grow and the number of hospitalizations is also increasing in states like Arizona and Texas, according to a CNBC analysis of compiled data. by Johns Hopkins University
As of Monday, the seven-day national average of new daily Covid-19 cases increased more than 30% compared to a week ago, based on analysis of the Johns Hopkins data. Cases are growing by 5% or more in 26 US states. USA, including Arizona, Texas, Florida and Montana.
Some of these states reported record single-day increases in coronavirus cases last week as testing increased and they moved forward with their phased reopening plans.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, said Monday that states that are seeing significant spikes in new cases are heading for a “crucial week” that could determine whether “they are reaching exponential growth or no”. ”
Texas, Arizona, and California are among the number of mostly states across the southern and western United States that have seen a dramatic increase in cases in recent weeks as their economies began to reopen.
Texas added 4,846 new cases on Monday, raising its seven-day average of daily new cases to 3,940, according to Johns Hopkins data. The state has seen an increase of more than 100% in its seven-day average compared to a week ago.
Arizona is averaging about 2,500 new cases daily as of Monday, representing a 94% increase from a week ago.
California saw a massive jump in its daily positive case report on Monday, adding 6,219 new cases, according to Johns Hopkins data. This new figure broke its previous single-day record of 4,084 new confirmed cases last Thursday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The Monday number reported by county health departments statewide includes some caveats, as some counties report multi-day totals after failing to update their case counts over the weekend.
As of June 22, California is seeing a seven-day average of nearly 4,148 new cases daily, according to Johns Hopkins data. This number has increased by more than 32% since a week ago. While Monday’s figure is a big rebound, it doesn’t change the overall trend line as the seven-day average of daily new cases has already increased in the past two weeks.
“The problem is with exponential growth, everything seems fine until, suddenly, it doesn’t,” Gottlieb said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”.
Meanwhile, 16 states and Washington, DC, reported declines in cases like New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Health officials have cited that it can take five to 12 days for people to show symptoms of the coronavirus, which could delay reporting. Each local state health department has its own methodologies for counting case numbers, causing numbers to fluctuate based on the level of testing performed.
Coronavirus hospitalizations, such as new cases and deaths, are an important measure of the outbreak as it helps health officials assess how severe it can be.
Covid-19 hospitalizations increased in 16 states as of Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by the Covid Monitoring Project.
Texas has been reporting record peak days in hospitalizations and daily increases in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. As of Monday, there are 3,110 people currently hospitalized in Texas according to a seven-day moving average, which is an increase of 43% compared to a week ago, according to data from the Covid Monitoring Project.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Monday “additional measures will be necessary” if these metrics continue to rise to current rates in July.
“The way hospitalizations are increasing, the way new cases are increasing on a daily basis; surely the public can understand that if those increases continue, additional measures will be necessary to ensure that we maintain the health and safety of people in the state of Texas, “Abbott said in response to whether he would consider rolling back some of the state’s reopening guidelines.
Abbott previously defended the state’s reopening plan, saying “there is no real need to revive the reopening of companies in the state.” Texas was one of the first states to reopen its economy, allowing bars, restaurants, and gyms to resume operations in early and mid-May.
“During the first part of May, Texas was moving into a very productive position,” said Abbott. “And then, in the Memorial Day season, there was an increase, and that increase has been going on for several weeks, requiring the next steps to be taken.”
—CNBC’s Nate Rattner, William Feuer and Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report.
Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and a member of Pfizer’s boards of directors, Genetic Testing Begins Tempus and the Illumina biotech company.
