Once again, the United States saw its highest daily total of COVID-19 cases, with 60,000 new cases recorded and more than 3 million in total on the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker. The previous record was more than 50,000 cases, which was set last week. The country now has over 3,000,000 COVID-19 cases, including more than 132,000 deaths, according to a report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
This rise in cases began at the end of May, following the reopening of most states' local economies. Florida, Texas, and Arizona continue to harbor some of the largest outbreaks.
In Texas, officials tallied more 10,000 new cases, a state record. Texas is the third state to report a single-day increase of more than 10,000 cases, after New York and Florida, with 9,200 Texans hospitalized for the virus. Two counties, Hidalgo and Starr, have reported that hospitals are now at capacity. In total, Texas has over 210,000 cases of COVID-19, including almost 2,800 fatalities.
In Florida, 84 percent of the state's intensive care unit (ICU) beds are occupied, as one in 100 residents are now infected with the novel virus. Out of the state's approximate 5,000 ICU beds, only about 1,000 are still available. To increase testing in the current hot spots, the federal government announced a 12-day testing campaign in n Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. Eight temporary testing sites will perform as many as 5,000 free tests a day, with officials hoping that an increase in testing in hot spots will give a clearer picture of who is getting sick, and how.
The federal testing sites will also combat testing shortages seen in hot spots. According to the New York Times, long lines and high case counts have led local officials to once again recommend that only symptomatic people seek testing.
