The United States has dipped fewer than 50,000 new cases of coronavirus for the first time in four days, but experts fear that Independence Day celebrations will act as fuel for the nation’s growing outbreak.
Johns Hopkins University, which counts confirmed cases, counted 45,300 new coronavirus infections in the US on Saturday.
The new count came after three days in which the daily count reached 54,500 new cases.
The country reported fewer than 20,000 new infections per day as recently as June 15.
Texas saw a record 8,200 new cases on Saturday when music lovers gathered in Round Rock
Few people wore face masks at the Granger Smith concert in Texas on July 4 at Dell Diamond
However, experts warned that the lower number on Saturday does not necessarily mean that the situation in the US is improving, as it could be due to reduced reports of a national holiday. They also expect a new peak after the long weekend.
The United States has the highest number of virus-related infections and deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and almost 130,000 deaths.
There have been almost 130,000 deaths
However, the actual number of victims of the pandemic is believed to be significantly higher, because people who died before being tested and omitted minor cases.
President Donald Trump celebrated Independence Day with little heed to health warnings, beginning Friday with a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and marking the occasion on Saturday with a fireworks night at the National Mall in Washington. .
Speaking on July 4, Trump said the United States was testing too much and falsely claimed that “in doing so, we are showing cases, 99 percent of which are completely harmless.”
The United States now has more than 2.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases
The World Health Organization has said that approximately 20 percent of those diagnosed with COVID-19 progress to serious illnesses, such as pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Those with mild or no symptoms, meanwhile, could pass the virus on to others.
The mayor of Austin, Texas, where the COVID-19 cases are emerging, called Trump’s comments “dangerous” and “incorrect.”
Mayor Steve Adler urged people to listen to local officials for guidance on public safety rather than the “ambiguous message coming out of Washington.”
The Food and Drug Administration commissioner on Sunday refused to endorse Trump’s claim.
Dr. Stephen Hahn said “it is not going to go into who is right and who is wrong,” but that government data clearly shows that “this is a serious problem.”
He adds that “any case is tragic” and that to stop the wave of growing cases, people must follow the government’s guide to practice social distancing and wear a mask.
The United States fails to control the pandemic as the number increases to ever higher levels
Almost 130,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama posted new daily highs on Friday, while Texas reached a new peak for hospitalizations.
Florida health officials said Sunday the state had reached a grim milestone: More than 200,000 people tested positive for COVID-19.
State statistics show that about 10,000 new people tested positive, a new record in a single day. More than 3,700 people have died.
In the past two weeks, the average number of daily new cases in the state increased by 5,323, an increase of 184.1 percent.
About 43 percent of cases in Florida are in three counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.
People visit Jacksonville Beach in Florida on July 4, ignoring advice to wear face masks
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on ABC on “This Week” Sunday that the sheer amount of positive evidence in both his county and state is “extremely concerning.”
Suarez, who had the virus in March, says it is clear that the growth is “exponential right now” and that officials are closely monitoring hospitalizations.
They are also closely watching the death rate, which “gives us the impression” that “much stricter” measures must be taken.
Florida’s death count is the ninth highest in the country overall and the 27th highest per capita, with 17.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
Walt Disney World theme parks will reopen next week, for the first time since March, but three private firefighters at the theme park complex have tested positive for COVID-19.
Up to 10 more firefighters for the Reedy Creek Improvement District are in quarantine, said Tim Stromsnes, a Reedy Creek Fire Rescue IAFF Local 211 official.
Firefighters are upset that they are expected to use sick days or vacations while in quarantine, rather than being paid time off.
They also said that Disney’s private government has done a poor job of communicating its coronavirus-related policies and informing other firefighters of their ill colleagues.
‘They cannot handle COVID in the fire department. How will Reedy Creek protect visitors? Stromsnes said.
Florida’s problems came as Texas also reported its largest daily increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with 8,258 new infections.
A rodeo in Mississippi, held to celebrate July 4, in the city of Thaxton.
A young bull rider competes during a God and Country Rodeo at the Hayseed Cowboy Church
Texas now has a total of 191,790 confirmed cases.
The state also reported 33 additional COVID-19-related deaths, bringing the death toll to 2,608.
Texas also reported an increase in hospitalizations, with 7,890 people in hospitals for coronavirus-related illnesses, an increase of 238 since Friday.
Two counties in the Rio Grande Valley area, Starr and Hidalgo, said their hospitals had reached full capacity.
Much of Texas began ordering to cover his face on Friday by Governor Greg Abbott. Failure to comply with the mask order carries a $ 250 fine.
Order is the most dramatic radical change Abbott has made when he withdraws from what was highlighted as one of the fastest reopens in the United States.
Mississippi reported 226 new cases and five deaths from COVID-19, and a rodeo was held to commemorate July 4.
In Arizona, cases also continued to increase.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said there was a ‘crisis’ involving a shortage of coronavirus testing in her city due to increasing cases, leading to the US in new cases of coronavirus per capita.
Gallego, a Democrat, said some residents had to queue for eight hours over the weekend to take the COVID-19 tests and that the federal government has been slow to help.
Gallego told ABC ‘This Week’ on Sunday that Arizona went from ‘zero to 60’ as it was one of the first states to reopen after being one of the last to implement stay-at-home orders.
He said that led to an explosion of cases, citing nightclubs filled with people with free champagne and people who inadvertently spread the virus in large family gatherings.
She blamed Trump for giving mixed public messages.
He visited Phoenix while she urged people to stay home and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, hold a big event, and not wear a mask.
Long lines of traffic in San Diego, California as people prepare for the July 4th holiday weekend
In New York, formerly the epicenter of the virus, Andrew Cuomo, the governor, said Saturday that there were more than 530 new confirmed cases and eight deaths.
At the height of the New York virus outbreak, new infections totaled more than 10,000 daily and deaths exceeded 700.
And worldwide, 212,326 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed Saturday, according to the World Health Organization.
The biggest contributors to Saturday’s surge in cases were the United States, where there were 53,000 more positive tests; Brazil, with 48,000; India with 23,000 and South Africa with 9,000.
The figure was an 11 percent increase from the previous record of 190,566, which was set on June 28.
June was the most devastating month for the global pandemic, with cases exceeding 10 million and deaths rising more than 500,000.
The 10 million milestone was reached last Sunday and the total has since risen to 11.3 million, meaning more than 1.3 million people have been diagnosed in a week.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a leading scientist who advises politicians in Britain, said that even the heartbreaking official figures are “actually underestimated.”
He said in a tweet that the numbers were “sobering”.
Sir Jeremy wrote: ‘More than 10 million confirmed cases and 500,000 deaths worldwide directly attributed to COVID19 in ~ 6 months. They both actually underestimate.
‘Highly populated regions of [Central and South] America, South Asia, Africa have not yet experienced the full impact of the first wave. Globally accelerating.
.
