As numerous regions across the United States begin to reopen their economies, President Donald Trump has spoken about a supposed downward trend in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths related to the new coronavirus on several occasions.
“Coronavirus numbers are looking MUCH better, going down almost everywhere. Big progress being made,” Trump wrote in a message shared to Twitter Monday morning.
However, according to individual states’ daily case reports, most have not indicated discernible downward trends in new diagnoses.
Coronavirus numbers are looking MUCH better, going down almost everywhere. Big progress being made!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2020
According to data published by various health departments, as well as Johns Hopkins University’s online tracker, at least eight U.S. states have seen upward trends in new virus cases reported over the past five days. Those states include Alabama, Florida, California, Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Virginia. California reported its highest single-day diagnosis count on May 5, with about 2,600 new cases. The state has seen an overall increase in daily case counts since May 4.
While other states—like Oregon, South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi and Nebraska—reported lower incidences of new cases on Sunday or Monday than it had in previous days, many have also recorded their highest ever single-day diagnosis total since mid-way through last week. In U.S. states that have been hit hardest by the new coronavirus pandemic, daily case reports have increased slightly since the start of May. However, many of those states continue to report new cases of the virus in large quantities.
For example, in New York, the site of the nation’s most severe outbreak, daily diagnosis reports have steadily decreased since May 2, when more than 4,600 new cases were identified. Still, between 2,200 and 3,400 new cases have been reported every day since then.
This story will be updated with more information.
