The US surpassed its highest single-day total of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday with more than 36,000 new cases, The Washington Post reported.
The bulk of the new cases come from California, Texas, and Florida.
California reported 7,149 new coronavirus cases — a record number of new confirmed cases — on Wednesday, according to local station KRON-TV. Two days ago, the state recorded its previous record number of new cases in one day: 6,000.
Texas and Florida reported more than new 5,000 cases each.
In the US, the previous single-day record was on April 25 with 34,203 new cases, The Post reported.
As of Wednesday, the US recorded more than 2.3 million coronavirus infections, with over 121,000 deaths.
More than half of US states reported an increase in cases on Monday, The Guardian reported.
However, despite the increase mostly in the Southern and Western regions of the country, reopening efforts have only continued.
Some public-health experts have said the relaxed reopening rules in the South are a big factor for emerging cases.
“The reason that we’re seeing a spike in cases here in Houston is because of the decisions that our governor has made to open up the economy fairly aggressively,” Dr. Cedric Dark, an emergency physician in Houston, told Business Insider.
Additionally, officials have reported that many of the new infections are from young adults, as Business Insider’s Holly Secon reported.
“We are seeing more people test positive under the age of 35, particularly in our discussions with the leadership in Florida and in Texas,” Vice President Mike Pence said on a call with governors Monday, according to ABC News.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that the median age of coronavirus patients went from 65 years old in March to 37 years old last week. And in Arizona, the number of new coronavirus cases is growing twice as fast among those who are 20 to 44 compared with those over 65 years old. Similar trends could be seen in South Carolina, Arizona, and Texas.
Health experts are worried that the US is not prepared to handle the increase in cases with its insufficient testing and contact tracing, in addition to the burden on the healthcare system.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious-disease expert in the US, expressed concern that the recent spikes in coronavirus cases across the US could develop into “full-blown outbreaks,” Business Insider’s Lauren Frias previously reported.
“The question is will they have the capability to do the appropriate and effective isolation, and contact tracing, to prevent this increase from becoming a full-blown outbreak? I’m concerned it’s happening,” Fauci told the UK newspaper The Telegraph, referring to the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases throughout the US.
