12 States Set New Record High for Coronavirus Cases Since Friday

Even though restrictions have been lifted in many parts of the country amidst the coronavirus pandemic, cases continue to rise in several states, according to ABC News. The publication reported that a dozen states have set record highs for new cases of COVID-19 since Friday. Additionally, they reported that there has been an increase in hospitalizations in 17 states across the nation.

ABC News reported that the states that saw an increase were Florida, Texas, Utah, South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, Missouri, Montana, Arizona, California, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. This data was obtained from the COVID Tracking Project, which compiles numbers on testing, confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and patient outcomes from every United States state and territory. Florida, in particular, ended their three-day streak of record-breaking coronavirus-related numbers on Saturday, when the state reported 4,049 new cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the state's rise in positive cases ties to their increase in testing. During a press conference on Saturday, the governor said that the state was in a "much better position today than we were at the beginning of April," and noted that there has been both an increase in hospital beds and a decreasing mortality rate. A number of other states, including Utah, South Carolina, Nevada, and Missouri have also seen a record-breaking number of positive coronavirus cases.

The state health department in Oklahoma, one of the states that have seen an increase in coronavirus cases, urged everyone who had attended "large-scale gatherings in recent weeks" to get tested for COVID-19. Their announcement came on Sunday, a day after President Donald Trump hosted a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was attended by nearly 6,200 people. "As expected, Oklahoma's urban areas as well as a few communities around the state are experiencing a rise in active COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to increased social activity and mobility," Dr. Lance Frye, the Interim Commissioner, said in a statement. "[We] need Oklahomans to get tested, even those without symptoms, so we can identify active cases and work together to minimize community spread."

In addition to a number of states seeing an increase in positive COVID-19 cases, several states have also seen an increase in the number of hospitalizations. ABC News reported that Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have all seen an increase in the number of hospitalizations connected to the coronavirus pandemic. Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, said on Face the Nation on Sunday that the White House is "on top of all these outbreaks."