57,000 New Daily Cases... Unstoppable COVID-19 Surge in the United States

On the 2nd (local time), people are touring the "Great Faces" on Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota, USA. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit this site on the 3rd to celebrate Independence Day. The "Great Faces" feature the carved faces of four former presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the United States is gradually intensifying. On a single day, as many as 57,000 new confirmed cases were reported.

The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 3rd (local time) that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was recorded at 56,566, setting a new daily record. This surpassed the previous day’s record of 55,220 new cases. According to WP’s tally, the daily highest number of confirmed cases in the U.S. has been rewritten seven times in the past nine days.

By region, Texas reported 7,555 new cases, marking three consecutive days with daily new cases exceeding 7,000. California had 5,688, North Carolina 2,099, and Louisiana 1,756 additional confirmed cases.

WP also reported that on the day the Independence Day holiday began, at least 16 states recorded their highest average daily new cases over the past seven days. These states include California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon.

With the start of the Independence Day holiday, concerns are rising that COVID-19 may spread again, similar to the Memorial Day holiday in May. However, President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend a fireworks event at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on this day. Although about 7,500 people are expected to gather, there are no social distancing or mask-wearing mandates in place, raising concerns among experts.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University reported in the afternoon that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reached 2,793,022, with 129,405 deaths.