U.S. holiday fuels worries about skyrocketing cases

The United States has dipped under 50,000 new daily infections for the first time in four days, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but experts fear celebrations for the July 4th weekend will act like rocket fuel for the nation’s surging coronavirus outbreak.

Johns Hopkins on Sunday counted 45,300 new coronavirus infections reported Saturday in the U.S. after three days in which the daily count reached as high as 54,500 new cases.

The United States has the most infections and virus-related deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 dead, according to the university.

Worldwide, nearly 11.3 million people have been infected and over 531,000 have died, with outbreaks surging in India, South Africa, Pakistan, Brazil and several other Latin American countries.

In a first, South Africa on Sunday reported more than 10,000 new confirmed cases in a single day.

In another worrying sign, the World Health Organization said member states reported more than 212,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world on Saturday, the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. The Geneva-based organization said more than 60% of the confirmed cases reports it received were in the Americas, which includes the United States and Brazil.

Faced with rising infections, many U.S. communities canceled parades and fireworks and cautioned people against hosting large gatherings.

Texas, which reported a record daily increase of 8,258 confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday, is retreating from what had been one of the country’s swiftest reopenings. Much of the state began mandating face coverings Friday, with a $250 fine for scofflaws. The holiday weekend coincided with a big step back this week for California’s efforts to reopen the state’s economy. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a threeweek closure of bars and many indoor establishments in counties where some 30 million people live.

In several California regions, economic woes prompted campaigns to convince state residents to travel within its borders. But public health experts and mayors of popular beach towns Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay pleaded with people to stay home for the holiday.

Crista Luedtke said demand has been “bonkers” since reopening the 14room Boon Hotel and Spa that she owns in the Sonoma County town of Guerneville.

Guests must stay at least two nights and are assigned lounges near the pool.

“Tourism is not dangerous,” Luedtke said. “I think people not following the rules is dangerous.”

In Australia and northeast Spain, authorities ordered lockdowns for specific counties or communities to stomp out local outbreaks.

In the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, the relatives of one apparent virus victim left his coffin in the street for hours to protest the difficulties in having him buried.

Police Col. Ivan Rojas said the demand “is collapsing the police personnel and funeral workers” in the city of 630,000 people.