Coronavirus Cases In America Surpasses 2 Million, Continues To Rise in Multiple States

According to a New York Times database, the United States surpassed the two million mark of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (June 10). This new information shows that as local governments continue to ease their restrictions, allowing citizens to return to their daily lives, the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread.

While numbers have begun to show improvement in states that were previously hit hard by COVID-19, newer hot spots have emerged in other states, including Arizona. The state was one of many states to begin easing their stay-at-home regulations early on (May 15), amid Donald Trump’s encouragement to do so. Now, in Arizona, a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalization have called local officials to be alarmed.

On Wednesday, Arizona reported 1,556 cases, which for the state is a new daily high. The Arizona Republic reported that the state’s health director wrote a letter to the hospitals over the weekend asking for them to prepare to “fully activate” their emergency plans.

More people are beginning to show up to local emergency rooms with positive coronavirus test results, as the number of COVID-19 patients has almost doubled since last month (May).

“Hospital capacity is increasingly strained,” Ann-Marie Alameddin, the chief executive of the Arizona Hospital Association said. “[It’s] not limitless. It’s a scarce resource.”

Other states, such as North Carolina Arkansas, Florida has seen consistent growth in the number of COVID-19 cases. In South Carolina, there have been almost 1,000 new cases of coronavirus within the past two days.

In 2020 alone, America has been battling a pair of adversities with one being COVID-19, and the other being nationwide protests of systematic racism after the killing of George Floyd. Floyd was an unarmed black man killed in police custody last month (May 25), as he begged for air, while an officer held his knee against Floyd’s neck.

The increasing number of protesters hitting the streets daily has caused concerns for experts, who believe that even while wearing a mask, coronavirus can still spread.

“Masks can help, but it’s masks plus physical separation, and when you get congregations [as] we saw with the demonstrations like we have said — myself and other health officials — that’s taking a risk,” Dr. Fauci, an infectious disease expert, said on “Good Morning America.” “Unfortunately, what we’re seeing now is just an example of the kinds of things we were concerned about.”