Novel coronavirus resurgence imperils US gains

A novel coronavirus resurgence is wiping out two months of progress in the United States and sending infections to dire new levels in the South and West, with hospital administrators and health experts warning on Wednesday that politicians and a tired-of-being-cooped-up public are letting a disaster unfold.

The US recorded a one-day total of 34,700 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the highest level since late April, when the number peaked at 36,400, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

While newly confirmed infections have been declining steadily in early hot spots such as New York and New Jersey, several other states set single-day records this week, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma. Some of them also broke hospitalization records.

“People got complacent,” said Dr Marc Boom, CEO of the Houston Methodist hospital system.

“And it’s coming back and biting us, quite frankly.”

The virus has been blamed for over 120,000 US deaths — the highest in the world — and 2.3 million-plus infections nationwide. On Wednesday, the widely cited University of Washington computer model of the outbreak projected nearly 180,000 deaths by October 1.

California reported over 7,100 new cases and its Governor Gavin Newsom said that he would withhold pandemic-related funding from local governments that brush off state requirements on masks and other anti-virus measures.

Florida’s single-day count surged to 5,500, a 25 percent jump from the record set last week.

In Texas, which began lifting its shutdowns on May 1, hospitalizations have doubled and new cases have tripled in two weeks.

Its Governor Greg Abbott said the state is facing a “massive outbreak” and might need new local restrictions to preserve hospital space.

The Houston area’s intensive care units are nearly full and two public hospitals are running at capacity, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Boom said Texans need to “behave perfectly and work together perfectly” to slow the virus.

“When I look at a restaurant or a business where people ... are not following the guidelines, where people are just throwing caution to the wind, it makes me angry,” he said.

In Arizona, emergency rooms are seeing about 1,200 suspected COVID-19 patients a day, compared with around 500 a month ago.

If the trends continue, hospitals will probably exceed capacity within the next several weeks, said Dr Joseph Gerald, a University of Arizona public health policy professor.

“We are in deep trouble,” he said Gerald, urging the state to impose new curbs on businesses, which its Governor Doug Ducey has refused to do.