Nearly 10,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in 24 hours in Florida, 3,591 in Arizona and their number is increasing in rural areas… Nothing seems to stop the spread of the new coronavirus in certain states of the South and Western United States. With 9,585 new infections and 24 deaths in 24 hours, Florida sets a sad record for the second day in a row.
The United States, which recorded its first death linked to the coronavirus in early February, is the most affected country in terms of number of deaths and cases, with 125,255 deaths for 2,492,246 cases. At least 670,809 people have been declared cured. More than 45,000 new confirmed cases of the virus were recorded on Friday, the largest increase since the start of the epidemic.
Florida and Texas have been among the most active in lifting containment measures since May; they are now forced to backtrack in the face of soaring contamination on their territory.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has also ordered the bars closed and reduced restaurant seating to 50% from 75% since June 12. Friday evening, in a rare act of contrition, he regretted having allowed the bars to reopen too early.
Some states believed they had brought the epidemic under control
But these two states are not the only ones to face an upsurge. On Friday, the city of San Francisco, California, in turn announced a " pause " in its deconfinement. Hairdressers, barbers, outdoor bars, which were due to reopen on Monday, will wait, authorities said.
Kansas appeared to have brought its epidemic under control in early June, but the number of cases reported daily has more than doubled in recent weeks. On June 5, the seven-day average of new daily cases was around 96; Friday, June 26, this figure was 211 daily cases.
In Oklahoma, the seven-day average of new daily cases increased from about 81 June 5 to 376 Friday. In the same period, Idaho's average increased from about 40 to 160.
Vice President Mike Pence announced at a White House Coronavirus task force briefing Friday that he will be traveling to Florida, Texas and Arizona this week to receive a "Field report" on the upsurge in Covid-19 cases. As for the meetings for the re-election of Donald Trump to which he had to go, in Florida and Arizona, they were canceled, by prudence.
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