Alabama and several other states reported record increases in coronavirus cases on Friday as Florida’s most populous county imposed a curfew ahead of the Independence Day weekend and Arkansas joined a push towards mandating mask-wearing in public.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alaska all saw new daily highs in cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, while Texas hit a new peak for hospitalizations, with one doctor calling for a “complete lockdown” in the state to get the virus under control.
The recent surge, most pronounced in southern and western states, has alarmed public health officials, who urged caution ahead of a July 4th holiday weekend to celebrate the Declaration of Independence of the United States in 1776.
North Carolina reported 951 hospitalizations and 2,099 cases, both record highs.
Bill Saffo, mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina, said many infections had been traced to large gatherings and predicted a further jump after the holiday weekend as people flouted guidelines on social distancing and masks.
“We know that the spread is going to happen. We know probably in about two weeks we’ll see a spike from the July 4th weekend,” Saffo told CNN.
Despite the jump in infections, the daily death rate in the United States has remained relatively flat, a reflection of the growing proportion of positive tests among younger, healthier people who are less prone to severe outcomes.
However, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that the impact on fatalities from the recent surge, which started in mid-June, had yet to be seen. “Deaths lag at least two weeks and can lag even more,” he told “Fox & Friends” on Friday.
His remarks came hours ahead of a trip by President Donald Trump to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota where he is expected to give a speech to thousands of supporters in which he will rail against the “left wing mob” and view a fireworks display at the landmark depicting four US presidents in stone.
The visit has drawn criticism from Native Americans, who say the remote area is sacred to them, as well as health experts who discourage large congregations of people.
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