7 US states post record increase in coronavirus cases

WASHINGTON: Alabama and six other US states reported record increases in coronavirus cases on Friday as Florida’s most populous county imposed a curfew ahead of the Independence Day weekend and Arkansas joined a push toward mandating maskwearing in public.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs in cases of Covid-19. Texas hit a new peak for hospitalizations, with one doctor calling for a “complete lockdown” in the state.

NEW YORK/ ATLANTA: Alabama and six other US states reported record increases in coronavirus cases on Friday as Florida’s most populous county imposed a curfew ahead of the Independence Day weekend and Arkansas joined a push toward mandating mask-wearing in public.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs in cases of Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Texas hit a new peak for hospitalisations, with one doctor calling for a “complete lockdown” in the state to get the virus under control.

The country reported 57,683 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours on Friday, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed, the third consecutive day with record numbers of new infections.

The tracker showed the total number of cases since the pandemic reached the US at 2,793,022 and it also recorded a further 728 fatalities, bringing the total US death toll to 129,405.

The number of prison inmates testing positive soared well past the 50,000 mark last month. At the end of June, the total number of cases among prisoners had reached at least 52,649, an increase of 8% from the week before, according to data compiled by Marshall Project, a nonprofit organisation, and AP.

DOG IN GEORGIA TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

A dog in Georgia is believed to have been the second canine in the US to test positive for the virus. The six-year-old mixed breed dog was tested after its owners contracted Covid-19 and the dog began suffering from a neurological illness.

Officials, however, clarified that the dog’s neurological illness was caused by a condition that is unrelated to the coronavirus disease.