US sees 51,000 new COVID-19 cases, infection rising in 37 states
(Reuters) - More than three dozen US states were seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, according to a Reuters tally and the nation set a new record with more than 51,000 infections in a single day as a fresh wave of the pandemic spread across the nation.
Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who attended a Trump rally last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to his Twitter account. The statement did not say where he was infected.
Eight members of the campaign’s staff who were in Tulsa for the June 20 rally have also tested positive.
US Vice President Mike Pence was in Florida on Thursday, where he met with Governor Ron DeSantis and expressed support for the governor’s “prudent steps” to slow the spread of the virus.
Earlier, Pence said he and Trump supported decisions to pause re-openings, but added that he saw no need for a national mandate for face coverings.
A total of nine states posted new record highs on Thursday including Florida, which confirmed more than 10,000 to mark its largest spike so far and more new daily cases than any European country had at the height of their outbreaks.
California, another epicenter, saw positive tests climb 37% with hospitalizations up 56% over the past two weeks.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who has previously resisted calls to make face masks mandatory, on Thursday ordered them to be worn in all counties with over 20 coronavirus cases.
“In the past few weeks, there has been a swift and substantial spike in coronavirus cases,” Abbott said in a videotaped message. “We need to refocus on slowing the spread. But this time, we want to do it without closing down Texas again.”
Texas reported nearly 8,000 new cases on Thursday.
New infections were rising in 37 out of 50 U.S. states in the past 14 days compared with the two weeks prior, according to a Reuters analysis. The United States has now recorded 128,706 deaths, nearly a quarter of the known global total.
The wave of new cases has several governors halting or back-pedaling on plans to reopen their states after months of strict lockdowns, closing beaches and canceling fireworks displays over the upcoming Independence Day weekend.