The growth in the number of COVID-19 cases is accelerating substantially in more than one-quarter of US states, as federal and local governments grapple with how to ease lockdown measures brought in to help slow the pandemic.
Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Oregon are among 14 states to have seen more than a 50 percent increase in the average number of daily new cases in the last two weeks compared with the two weeks before that. So far, the US has counted more than 2 million cases and 120,000 deaths from COVID-19.
“The situation in Florida and Arizona is really concerning,” Harvard University epidemiologist William Hanage tells Reuters. The data from these states indicate that there is an “underlying outbreak of unknown size,” not just higher case numbers due to increases in testing, he adds.
Arizona reported a state record of 3,246 new cases on Friday (June 19), surpassing the previous ...
