US hits 5 million COVID-19 cases

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Having the highest coronavirus infections globally, the US has now surpassed five million mark COVID-19 cases.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House COVID-19 task force has blamed the divisiveness between focusing on public health measures versus efforts on reopening the economy.
• Despite the resurgence of new infections, President Donald Trump has continued to push the states to reopen.

Infamously known as the worst-hit COVID country around the world, the US has now recorded over five million coronavirus cases. Based on the tracking by John Hopkins University, it only took about one and a half months to double the infections across the country. 

Over the past week, CNBC analysis of Hopkins’ data showed that the average new infections per day were at 54,235. On July 19, new daily cases marked a high a record of 67,902 across the Sun Belt states in the past two months.

Since the start of the outbreak in late January, more than 500,000 cases each were recorded in California and Florida, with Texas closely following. 

The three states have now surpassed New York, which was considered the pandemic’s epicenter during the early months. The Empire State, though, still got the most number of fatalities, with over 32,000 deaths due to COVID-19, based on Hopkins’ study. 

Becoming more familiar with the virus and founding better treatments, medical experts said they were able to preserve more lives now in New York versus the first wave of the pandemic during March and April. The resurgence of cases has significantly affected younger people, who had better survival rates.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, White House COVID-19 task force key members, expressed their concern that states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee are also starting to gain an influx of positive cases.

During an interview with CNN and the Harvard School of Public Health last Wednesday, Fauci said: “Every country has suffered. We, the United States, [have] suffered … as much or worse than anyone.” He said that the number of infections and the death toll are “quite concerning.”

Fauci blamed the contrasting issue of public health measures versus reopening of the economy, which had become a debate about which area the country should focus on.

On one hand, President Donald Trump has continued to push for the states to reopen and argued that lockdowns would pose more risks than benefits. Trump said that the US should safeguard the elderly while sending the rest of Americans back to work and school.

“Lockdowns do not prevent infection in the future. They just don’t. It comes back many times, it comes back,” Trump said during Monday’s press briefing. 

On Wednesday, Trump said that the virus will eventually “go away like things go away,” as he continues to contradict the statements from his medical consultants and the World Health Organization.

In the last two weeks, the US registered 1 million new cases, based on John Hopkins’ data monitoring.

Source: CNBC.com