The number of new daily infections in the United States approached Wednesday, June 24, its record levels. The country experienced 36,000 new cases in 24 hours. Almost half of the 50 American states have experienced an increase in the number of infections in the past two weeks. Some, such as Texas, Florida and California, are now posting daily records in the number of cases identified.

Texas, which had very quickly started its deconfinement at the beginning of May, thus registered, Wednesday, 5,551 new infections. The number of hospitalizations has doubled in the past month and hospitals are concerned about being overwhelmed.

Covid-19 contagious outbreak in the southern United States

"If we are unable to slow progress in the coming weeks, we will have to reconsider how far businesses can stay open," said Texas Governor Greg Abbott. He encouraged all those who have to go out to wear a mask, without having made it mandatory in his state.

Symptom of the renewed epidemic: the Apple brand has decided to temporarily close seven stores in the Houston area where the number of cases of Covid-19 soars. The apple brand had already closed a dozen other stores in Florida, North and South Carolina and Arizona last week.

Miami beaches reopen

In Florida, the images of bathers returning to the vast beaches of Miami, closed for almost three months because of the pandemic, had circumnavigated the world when they reopened on June 10, marking the hope of a return to "normality". 

Yesterday the Florida Department of Health confirmed 1,038 additional cases of COVID-19, the highest number of new cases reported in the past two weeks.

This is a photo of New Smyrna Beach today.

Any questions? pic.twitter.com/GLTxrDzLcF

- Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) May 2, 2020

But on Wednesday, this tourist state also recorded another record with 5,508 new infections. On Monday, it had passed the 100,000 mark of detected coronavirus cases. 

Since Tuesday, wearing a mask has been made compulsory in the big seaside city of Miami and a dozen cities in the region. It was already the case since last week in Orlando, Tampa, or the famous islands of the Keys.

Quarantine

California also broke a new record for the third day in a row on Wednesday, with more than 7,100 new cases out of nearly 200,000 in total.

Very hard hit by the Covid-19 at the beginning of the epidemic in the United States, New York and New Jersey as well as neighboring Connecticut decreed, Wednesday, forty for people coming from certain states where the pandemic is accelerating . 

"Today in Washington, the Democratic opposition and the critics of Donald Trump directly criticize him for his policy and his eagerness to put America back to work," said France 24 correspondent Matthieu Mabin. "His presidential rival Joe Biden sent him a personal and direct message: 'No, Mr. President, this virus will not go away on its own'."

With nearly 330 million inhabitants, the United States has the worst record in the world in absolute terms: more than 120,000 deaths and nearly 2.4 million cases detected. For White House chief immunologist Anthony Fauci, "the next two weeks will be critical" to combat these "worrying" flare-ups. 

With AFP

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR