More than 130,000 people have died with covid-19 in the United States. At the same time, several of the country's major cities are sounding alarms after being hit by a wave of crime in the wake of the Corona crisis.

Ten people were shot dead and 54 injured in shootings in New York this past weekend. Among them a 29-year-old father who was shot to death in front of his 6-year-old daughter's eyes, reports the New York Times.

24 year old record

By Sunday, 585 shootings had occurred in the city, a 53 percent increase over the same period last year, according to AP. In June, 205 shootings occurred in New York - which was the bloodiest June month in the city since 1996, according to the New York Times. 

Similar alarms about an increased number of shootings and violent crimes are reported from several major cities.

In Philadelphia, the number of homicides has increased by 20 percent over the past year, and in Chicago, similar homicides are seen as in the record year 2016. At that time, 778 people were murdered in the city, compared with 336 until July 2 this year.

The reason behind the crime wave is linked to, among other things, increased unemployment as a result of the pandemic, the shutdown of society and a rising anger against police brutality, experts say to the AP.

"A perfect storm"

"I think this is a perfect storm of concern," said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, after five people, including an 8-year-old girl, were shot dead in the city this past weekend.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also says the pandemic's impact is significant.

- The court system does not work, the economy does not work and people have been stuck at home for months. There are so many problems that underlie this challenge.

At the same time, police officers in New York and other cities believe that criminal justice reforms implemented in recent years may be behind the wave of crime. They also point to a lack of morale within the police force in the wake of the extensive protests against police officers in the United States.