U.S. hits a new macabre record

Over 111,000 new cases reported on Thursday

RACINE, WIS.—They were feverish and desperate, confined to their cars in a slow single-file line as they waited for coronavirus tests.

A few rolled down the windows to let the warm breeze from Lake Michigan inside and leaned back on the headrests, eyes closed. One family, with three children in the back seat of a minivan, had already driven around for hours, trying to find testing site that was not full. The coronavirus is surging out of control across the country, and more than 111,000 cases were reported Thursday, more new cases than on any other day of the pandemic. In 43 states, new infections are climbing steadily higher. To many Americans, the pandemic’s march feels inexorable.

“We knew it was just a matter of time,” said Matt Christensen, sitting in the passenger seat of the minivan alongside his wife.

In one day across the U.S., the coronavirus churned through homes, workplaces, hospitals, schools and laboratories.

From dawn to nightfall Thursday, the worst day of the pandemic in terms of new cases, snapshots offered glimpses of the virus’s persistent spread and devastating fallout: In Cleveland, lab workers began another grinding day of processing coronavirus tests. In Minot, North Dakota, a hospital scrambled to find space for the crush of coronavirus patients who came through the doors.

And in Missouri, officials interrupted the day with a jarring announcement: A person who tested positive for the coronavirus last week disregarded orders to isolate and worked as an election judge in suburban St. Louis on Tuesday. The person, whom St. Charles County officials did not identify, has since died.