As New York returns to normalcy, experts worry about rising cases in other US states

While New York eased COVID-19 lockdown measures and citizens returned to some semblance of normalcy, health experts are now worried about the alarming spread of the virus in other parts of the United States. New York was once the epicentre of the global pandemic, however, the state has been recording low numbers in recent days. While NY authorities allowed stores and restaurants to reopen, the health experts noted that Florida is the chief state among the latest hotspots. 

According to an international media outlet, Florida, which was one of the last states to impose stay-at-home order and one of the first to lift the lockdown measures, recorded nearly 3,000 new positive cases on June 22. The officials also noted that Arizona had also reported nearly 2,200 additional cases earlier this week. With a rapid surge in COVID-19 infections mostly in South and West parts of the country, the experts reportedly said that the ‘positivity’ rate has climbed. 

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While speaking to an international media outlet, Eric Toner, who is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security in Baltimore, said that the increase in positive cases is a consequence of people venturing back into public spaces without wearing a face mask and not practising social distancing. Toner said that the spread of the virus is ‘certain’, however, the big question is ‘how big the increase will be’. 

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Texas records over 5K new cases in single day

With states like Texas reporting a record of over 5,000 new cases in a single day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly said that the outbreak in a distant part of the country was worrying him. Amid the rapid spread, Cuomo reportedly has also been talking with neighbouring states about placing restrictions on travellers from places such as Arizona and Florida. In a bid to contain the virus in New York, Cuomo had also ordered people arriving from Florida to self-quarantine for two weeks. 

Meanwhile, as per reports, several states in the US recorded a weekly increase in new cases of coronavirus. While some new cases are believed to be linked to better testing, others are probably due to the eased public health restrictions that have allowed people to gather in groups. The United States overall has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, with over 2,312,000 positive cases and 120,402 deaths. Even with an increasing number of cases, the state continues to ease lockdown measures.

(Image: AP) 

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