COVID-19 cases rising in 39 states
Weekly deaths up in 25; positivity jumps in 35
U.S. coronavirus cases surpassed 7.5 million on Wednesday with most states seeing a rise in cases – nine months into the pandemic – and a startling nine states setting ominous, seven-day records for infections.
A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Tuesday shows Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming all set state records in the seven-day period. In all, 39 states reported more coronavirus cases in the last week than they had in the week before.
More than 210,000 Americans have died, and Wisconsin and Hawaii reported record numbers of deaths in their states for a seven-day period.
President Donald Trump’s assertion that Americans need not worry because “some really great drugs and knowledge” have been developed under his administration has prompted dismay for many in the medical community.
Lucy McBride, an internal medicine physician at Foxhall Internists in Washington, D.C., said that more than nine months after the virus was discovered in China, no treatments are available for patients suffering mild to moderate illness from the virus.
“We only have treatments for our sickest, hospitalized patients,” she told USA TODAY. “Currently there is no proven (treatment) for the majority of patients with COVID-19.
“Our best and only defense against viral transmission,” she adds, “is our own behavior. Masks, distancing, avoiding crowded spaces, and handwashing as we buy time for drug development.”
In Wisconsin, which set a sevenday record for fatalities, indoor bars and restaurants were capped at 25% of capacity starting Thursday. The state is struggling with some of the worst
COVID-19 outbreaks in the country, and Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, ordered the limits despite repeated legal challenges from Republicans.
“We’re in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behavior to save lives,” said Evers. “There’s no other way to put it, we are overwhelmed.”
Cases in Wisconsin have more than doubled over about a month, with outbreaks spreading to college campuses but also to rural areas. In northern regions of the state, hospitalizations quadrupled in that time.
“I believe limiting indoor public gatherings will help slow the spread of this virus,” Evers said. “The sooner we get control of this virus, the sooner our economy, communities, and state can bounce back.”
In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear extended the statewide mask mandate for another 30 days and said the state would be “stepping up the enforcement.” Businesses that serve customers not wearing masks face the possibility of being fined and shut down for a period of time, Beshear said.
The state has now seen 74,194 positive cases since the start of the pandemic, including record weekly totals three weeks in a row.
“It’s going to be a hard month with all the cases we’ve seen,” Beshear said. “It’s going to be a hard October, and it’s going to be a hard November, too, because deaths trail cases.”
New York state, once the global hotspot for the virus, is working to smother flareups with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Cluster Action Initiative.” Some areas will see schools and nonessential businesses and even houses of worship shut down as soon as Friday. Others face limits on indoor restaurant capacity and other gatherings.
The plan immediately drew fire from the Orthodox Jewish organization Agudath Israel of America, which issued a statement saying it “intends to explore all appropriate measures to undo this deeply offensive” action by the governor.
“We establish clear limits for areas where we see high positivity,” Cuomo said on Twitter. “The severity of the problem will determine the response.”
Cases in the United States have been rising for the last three weeks, the USA TODAY analysis revealed. The country has been adding about 44,000 cases per day lately, more than double the low seen in June and halfway between that mark and the worst of July’s devastating peak.
Deaths, which generally lag case trends, were higher in 25 of the states.
And a review of COVID Tracking Project data suggests testing positivity was higher in 35 states than it was the week before.
Nationwide, more than 43,500 new cases and 705 deaths were reported Tuesday alone, according to Johns Hopkins data. Globally, more than 35.8 million people have been infected including Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. More than 1 million have died.
“COVID-19 is still very much a threat today,” said Ogbonnaya Omenka, an associate professor and public health specialist at Butler University. “If it seems otherwise, then that is mainly (because) we have implemented public health measures and improved our capabilities regarding mitigating the threat of the virus.”