Why are states seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases?
Several reasons cited for upticks across US
New York and Chicago, which saw a surge of coronavirus cases at the start of the pandemic, are experiencing a decline in cases and have begun reopening in phases.
But that trend doesn’t hold throughout the rest of the country.
Soaring case numbers in Arizona have diverted lawmakers’ attention from protests after the death of George Floyd back to the public health crisis.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has asked for members of the administration’s Coronavirus Task Force, specifically naming Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, to conduct a briefing for Democratic senators nextweek on the spike in cases in Arizona and elsewhere across the U.S., according to his office.
Other states seeing a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases include South Carolina, Florida, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Puerto Rico.
Though experts aren’t exactly sure why these states are experiencing an unexpected uptick in cases, they said lifting lockdown restrictions, isolated outbreaks and the virus catching up to communities previously not impacted may each play a role.
“This virus is much more spotty,” said Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School for Public Health. “It is so complicated that when people give you a simple answer to this, it’s probably not right.”
In April, the Trump administration announced guidelines to reopen the country, which included a 14-day decline of confirmed coronavirus cases or a decline of positive tests as a percent of total tests within that period.
However, some states eager to get back to work didn’t meet those federal government guidelines before reopening.
Florida’s first phase began May 18, which reopened restaurants, retail and museums at half capacity. Not only did the state fail to meet a two week decline in cases, but it actually reported an increase in cases per day a week before reopening. According to Johns Hopkins data, Florida reported 594 cases on May 10. Five days later there were more than 800 cases.
About three weeks later, on June 5, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ went on to phase two reopening, even as daily cases have topped the 1,000 mark and have continued to do so for the past seven days.
... lifting lockdown restrictions, isolated outbreaks and the virus catching up to communities previously not impacted may each play a role.