Coronavirus cases in the US hit another daily record on Thursday as Americans prepared for a distinctly joyless Fourth of July weekend that bears none of the sense of joy and revival that the country enjoyed on Memorial Day Weekend. According to JHU, the US reported 52,291 new cases, bringing its nationwide total to 2,739,879.
Source: JHU
Last night, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he would pause the phased reopening process for all counties in the state for 2 weeks, joining NY & NJ in delaying some of its reopening plans due to the outbreak int he south and west, while dozens of states – including Texas and Florida, arguably the two hardest hit states – have taken steps to roll back or delay their reopening. He also announced a statewide directive for businesses to require face coverings of all employees and customers, just a few hours after Texas Gov Greg Abbott issued an executive order mandating mask-wearing.
Washington’s decision comes after the state reported 509 new cases yesterday, the highest single-day number since April 8.
While the resurgence of new cases in Washington State is definitely discouraging, heading into the weekend, only a handful of states in the northeast – NY, NJ, Connecticut, Mass., RI, Vermont, NH and Maine – haven’t seen the numbers backslide.
To put things in perspective….
In May, we did not break 30k cases in a day. Today, the South alone reported 32,830. pic.twitter.com/fGCEGi3o7V
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) July 2, 2020
