The US recorded nearly 25,000 coronavirus deaths in July and cases doubled in at least 18 states as the pandemic’s epicenter starts to shift to the Midwest.
Deaths rose at least 19 percent in July compared to June to more than 152,000 total and nearly 1.8 million new cases were recorded out of the total 4.4 million, an increase of 66 percent in comparison with last month
On July 16, the country also shattered single-day global records when it reported more than 77,000 new cases.
During the month, 33 out of 50 states had one-day record increases in cases and 19 set records for how much deaths rose in 24 hours, according to a Reuters tally.
Meanwhile, as former hotspot states such as New York and New Jersey report record-lows, Middle America is becoming the new hotspot with cases surging in states such as Ohio and Missouri.
It comes as the US nears five million total confirmed cases, more than double the total in Brazil, which has the second-highest number of cases.
In July, coronavirus deaths rose by at least 19% with more than 25,000 fatalities alone recorded across the US
Cases also rose by 1.8 million, an increase of 66%, as the pandemic’s epicenter shifts to Midwestern states
Cases also more than doubled in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the tally.
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York – once the nation’s epicenter -had the lowest increases, with cases rising seven percent or less.
The epicenter has now showed signs of shifting to the Midwest while Sunbelt states were hopeful that new infections and deaths were starting to decline.
Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator, told Fox & Friends on Thursday that governors in these states should issue mask mandates.
She specifically mentioned Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Tennessee as all showing indicators of rising cases.
However, Birx said it’s likely ‘because of vacations and other reasons of travel’ such as visitors to these states from the South.
Of the above states, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee, do not have statewide mask orders.
‘We believe if the governors and mayors of every locality right now would mandate masks for their communities and every American would wear a mask and socially distance and not congregate in large settings where you can’t socially distance or wear a mask, that we can really get control of this virus and drive down cases,’ Birx said.
Ohio recorded its highest single-day increase in infections s with 1,733 cases for a total of 89,626 in addition to 40 deaths for a total of 3,442
In Tennessee, 4,333 cases were reported for a total of 102,871 infections as well as 13 deaths, bringing the total of fatalities to 1,033
More than 2,000 new cases were recorded in Missouri on Thursday, a record-high for the state for a total of 45,533 and 13 deaths for a total of 1,233
On Thursday, Ohio’s health department reported that the state had seen its highest single-day increase in infections since the pandemic started in January with 1,733 cases.
The states’s previous record was 1,679 new cases on July 17.
Ohio set a one-day record for new coronavirus cases, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday.
What’s more, of the 10 highest numbers of daily cases in Ohio, nine have come in the past three weeks, according to Governor Mike DeWine.
‘That’s certainly not good news,’ he said at a press conference.
Additionally, on Tuesday, Ohio reported 1,122 COVID-19 hospitalizations, the highest since late April when 1,103 patients were hospitalized, reported Fox 8 News.
Tennessee, another hotspot, currently leads the US in percentage of cases among people under age 18.
According to a report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Volunteer State has 13,264 pediatric cases, making up 15.7% of the total cases.
Fox 17 reported that Tennessee is one of several states in the ‘red zone’ for coronavirus, according to Birx.
She said ‘100 percent’ of Tennessee counties need to implement a mask mandate to control coronavirus but only 70 percent have.
Both California (left) and Texas (right) seem to be stabilizing with cases but saw record-high deaths on Thursday with 391 and 322, respectively
Meanwhile, in Missouri, more than 2,000 new cases were recorded on Thursday, a record-high for the state and the third day in the row the state has broke its record high.
In fact, the state has broke its total case record seven times over the last 11 days, reported KMOV 4.
Missouri added more than 27,000 cases in July, which makes up for 55 percent of the state’s total and is an increase of more than 200 percent from the all cases reported in June.
After a rapid acceleration in cases, the outbreak appears to be stabilizing in Arizona, Florida and Texas. However, deaths have continued to rise.
Over the last week, the average number of deaths per day spiked from 843 to 1,057, more than 25 percent.
Arizona recorded a daily high in coronavirus deaths at 172, Florida reported 253 more deaths – third straight single-day record and Texas had 322 new fatalities.