US virus cases: Over 60,000 in single day

NEW YORK CITY (Reuters) — The United States reported more than 60,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the biggest increase ever reported by a country in a single day, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States faces a bleak summer with record-breaking infections and many states forced to close parts of the economy again, leaving some workers without a paycheck.

In addition to nearly 10,000 new cases in Florida, Texas reported over 9,500 cases and California reported more than 8,500 new infections. California and Texas also each reported a record one-day increase in deaths.

It was the second day in a row that US deaths climbed by more than 900 in a day, the highest levels seen since early June, according to the tally.

Tennessee, West Virginia and Utah all had record daily increases in new cases, and infections are rising in 42 out of 50 states, according to a Reuters analysis of cases for the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks.

The US tally stood at 60,020 late on Wednesday, with a few local governments not yet reporting.

The previous US record for new cases in a day was 56,818 last Friday.

The United States has reported over three million cases and 132,000 deaths from the virus, putting US President Donald Trump’s pandemic strategy under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, US federal health officials recommend that all Americans over the age of two wear cloth face coverings in public to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control, which has changed since the start of the pandemic, distinguishes between cloth and medical-grade masks.

The latter are in limited supply and should be reserved for frontline healthcare workers, the agency says.

Some of the 50 states have taken the federal recommendation a step further and mandated mask-wearing, while others have left it to counties and cities to implement requirements.