Arizona, California, And Florida Among States With Record-Breaking Coronavirus Case Numbers
Arizona, California, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas have all reported state record-breaking single-day increases in coronavirus cases within this past week alone. The numbers are a result of a multitude of states in the South and West that are reporting an increase in new infections and hospitalizations. Most of the states experiencing record-setting case numbers were the ones who aggressively reopened within the past month.
In Arizona specifically there’s been 2,519 new cases reported for this Thursday alone, which surpassed their previous single-day high of 2,392. Arizona has reported that many of their hospitals are nearing capacity due to this massive spike, and the patients who are currently in the ICU make up about 84% of all sick patients for the state.
Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey recently announced a slew of new policies that would require things like masks and gloves to be worn throughout certain establishments/when in public in general; something many other states have been continuously doing since this pandemic began.
Florida officials announced 3,207 new cases of Covid-19 also appeared this Thursday morning; their previous single-day peak was at 2,783 cases, so this is a huge difference for the state. The total number of cases in Florida is around 86,000, making them one of the most infected states in the country. They also were among the first states to reopen, and generally speaking, they never fully adopted social distancing/lockdown procedures for a majority of its cities and residential areas.
California officials reported 4,084 new coronavirus cases this Thursday, this is the first time the state has reported more than 4,000 cases in a single day. The state itself has reported a total of 161,099 cases, and around 5,200 deaths due to the virus. Los Angeles County is the epicenter of new cases for California, which reported 2,115 of the 4,084 new cases this Thursday. Governor Gavin Newsom announced a statewide restriction on movement and business re-openings, however, he also allowed for the reopening of restaurants and retail stores back in May.
South Carolina only reported 987 new cases this Thursday, however, this is the most cases the state has seen in a single week. In total South Carolina has recorded 21,533, but it’s important to note that these drastic differences in case numbers per state are dependent on population size. So 21,000+ cases in South Carolina for them is just as severe as 80,000+ cases in Florida.
“There is no vaccine for COVID-19. There are only individual behaviors and actions we must all maintain that help stop its spread. This virus does not spread on its own. It’s spread around our state by infected people who carry it wherever they go – their work, the supermarket, the post office, a friend’s house,” said South Carolina state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell, as she pleaded with residents to continue to wear masks and stay home.
Texas reported 3,516 new cases Thursday, topping their previous record of 3,129. Texas itself is nearing the 100,000 mark for its total number of cases. Governor Greg Abott recently gave a news briefing in which he urged his citizens not to panic and that a majority of this spike likely came from the prison systems in Texas. However, Abott didn’t acknowledge the fact that they ended their stay-at-home order on May 1st, which prompted many residents to return to their normal lives, mask free.
Case numbers for Covid-19 are continuously rising and that pattern will continue unless everyone agrees to abide by social distancing protocols and personal stay-home orders. Government officials understandably want to reopen so that their economies can begin to recover, however, it’ll be impossible to revive the economy if every citizen is sick in a hospital or worse, dead.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.