This is the 11th time in the last month that the U.S. has broken its own record for the number of new coronavirus cases, according to The New York Times. The prior record for daily recorded cases was set last Friday at 68,241 cases.
“If you do the math, it is easy to see why the alarm,” said Barbara Ferrer, the public health director in Los Angeles County, Calif. With community spread rampant, she warned that the more than 4,000 new cases the county registered on Thursday “could lead to over 18,000 infected people in a few weeks.”
“And this is just from one day of new cases,” Dr. Ferrer said. “Without aggressive action on the part of every person, we will not get back to slowing the spread.”
Four states — Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Texas — set single-day case records on Thursday. And three states set single-day death records on Thursday — Florida, South Carolina and Texas — with Florida and Texas alone combining for more than 300.
Yes, the statistics are depressing, and all the more so because many of the states that reopened early are the ones seeing the biggest increases. Tracking the coronavirus in this country, and based on the data from July 16, 2020, the U.S. has seen a 42 percent increase in cases over the past 14 days and a 42 percent rise in the number of deaths over the same period.
The face mask debate is heating up
CNN is reporting that an unpublished document prepared for the White House coronavirus task force says 18 states in the coronavirus “red zone” for cases should roll back reopening measures amid surging cases.
The “red zone” is defined in the 359-page report as “those core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) and counties that during the last week reported both new cases above 100 per 100,000 population, and a diagnostic test positivity result above 10 percent.”
And as coronavirus cases have soeared, many cities and over half of the states are issuing mask requirements to try to stop the spread. Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, a Republican, announced a face covering requirement on Thursday, after previously taking a more hands-off approach. Gov ernor Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, also issued a mask order on Thursday.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, on Wednesday announced a mask mandate that is set to continue through the end of the month as COVID-19 cases continue to spike in the state, per The Hill.
“Despite all our best efforts, we’re seeing increases in cases every day still occurring and we’re almost to the point where hospital ICUs are overwhelmed,” Ivey told reporters this week.
Georgia is among the 18 states in the “red zone” for cases and among the 11 states in the zone for test positivity. Yet, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued an executive order this week banning any localities from mandating the wearing of face masks, much to the chagrin of local city officials.
On Thursday, Governor Kemp sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her efforts to require face masks in public places.
Even though there is a variation over mask wearing across the country, which some experts say is due to peer pressure, it seems that the majority of Americans do wear masks when going outside the home. Several national surveys in recent weeks have found that around 80 percent of Americans say they wear masks frequently or always when they expect to be within six feet of other people.
