US Hits 2 Million Coronavirus Cases

The United States has hit 2 million coronavirus cases, and the numbers are continuing to climb. According to NPR, as of Thursday morning, over 112,000 people have died from the virus. In addition to the tragic milestones, at least 20 states are seeing a rise in Covid-19 infections.

The outlet notes that data from Johns Hopkins University reveals interesting details about the rise and fall of U.S. Covid-19 cases. New York state, which was once a significant hotspot, has seen a decline in cases, after being on full lockdown for nearly three months. However, states like Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and California are starting to see rises in the number of cases. Notably, Texas had a total of 2,153 hospitalized patients on Wednesday, setting a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations on three consecutive days. NPR notes that this comes after Texas was one of the first states to begin the reopening process. Gov. Greg Abbott is also reportedly planning to move forward with raising the occupancy limits for bars and restaurants, as well as amusement parks and some other businesses.

Since June 2, Florida has reported more than 1,000 new cases each day. However, it is also notable that the number of death due to coronavirus has dropped to double digits. Still, the rising cases in the state cannot be ignored, as more people tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday than on any other day in the past two months.

As for Arizona, it has reported an average of more than 1,000 new cases every day this week, making it the highest rate in the U.S. per capita. “It’s very clear that it’s a real increase in community spread,” says Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble, explaining that he and other experts do not believe the rise in reported cases is “some artifact of additional testing.”

The reopening of states is something that has many experts concerned, with Jeffrey Shaman of the Columbia University School of Public Health assessing, “It seems that we, the U.S., has given up and accepted this disease as a facet of life.” Shaman continued, “It didn’t have to be this way, and it still doesn’t going forward.” Dr. Bill Miller, the senior associate dean for research at Ohio State University’s college of public health, added that he is “definitely worried” as well. “As places have been opening up, many people are taking it as a message that everything is OK and back to normal,” he said. “I’m definitely worried that we’re going to see some upswings, maybe not everywhere, but in many places across the country.”