The total number of Covid-19 cases in the United States have surpassed 2 million, according to a Reuters tally, as health officials urged anyone who took part in massive protests for racial justice to get tested.
Visitors have their temperatures checked as they arrive at Universal Studios theme park on the first day of reopening after the shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic, on June 5, 2020, in Orlando, Florida. Photo: Gregg Newton / AFP
Nationally, new infections are rising slightly after five weeks of declines, according to a Reuters analysis. Part of the increase is due to more testing, which hit a record high on 5 June of 545,690 tests in a single day but has since fallen, according to the COVID-Tracking Project.
Recent increases in cases are likely a result of more people moving about and resuming some business and pleasure activities as all 50 states gradually reopen.
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Huge nationwide protests with no social distancing after the death of George Floyd on 25 May at the hands of Minneapolis police could lead to another spike in cases in coming weeks.
Health officials believe the first US coronavirus cases appeared in January, and the nation recorded 1 million cases by 28 April. So far in June, there have been an average of 21,000 new cases a day compared with an average of 30,000 a day in April and 23,000 a day in May, according to a Reuters tally.
Total US coronavirus-related deaths have surpassed 112,000, also the most in the world.
On 12 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised governments that before reopening, the rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus should remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.
US rates of positive test results have fluctuated between 4 percent and 7 percent nationally and have not met those guidelines, although many individual states have.
Some states were still reporting positive rates above the WHO threshold last week, with Maryland at 8 percent, Utah at 9 percent, Nebraska at 9 percent, Virginia at 9 percent, Massachusetts at 11 percent, and Arizona at 12 percent.
At the peak of the outbreak in April, 25 percent to 50 percent of tests came back positive.
- Reuters