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 (Reuters) - The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United
States topped 7 million - more than 20% of the world's total - as
Midwest states reported spikes in COVID-19 infections in September,
according to a Reuters tally.
The latest milestone on Thursday comes just days after the nation
surpassed over 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world's highest death
toll from the virus. Each day, over 700 people die in the United
States from COVID-19.
California leads the country with over 800,000 total cases, followed
by Texas, Florida and New York. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/363tab5)
All Midwest states except Ohio reported more cases in the past four
weeks as compared with the prior four weeks, led by South Dakota and
North Dakota. South Dakota had the biggest percentage increase at
166% with 8,129 new cases, while North Dakota’s new cases doubled to
8,752 as compared to 4,243 during the same time in August.
Many cases in those two states have been linked to the annual
motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, that annually attracts
hundreds of thousands of visitors.
According to a Reuters analysis, positive cases rose in half of the
50 U.S. states this month. Ten states have reported a record one-day
increase in COVID-19 cases in September, including Montana, South
Dakota and Utah on Thursday.
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New cases rose last week after falling for eight consecutive weeks. Health
experts believe this spike was due to reopening schools and universities as well
as parties over the recent Labor Day holiday.
A study by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro,
Indiana University, the University of Washington and Davidson College said
recent reopening of college and university campuses for in-person instruction
during late summer this year could be associated with more than 3,000 additional
cases of COVID-19 per day in the United States in recent weeks.
U.S. confirmed cases are the highest in the world followed by India with 5.7
million cases and Brazil with 4.6 million.
The United states is currently averaging 40,000 new infections per day. Top U.S.
infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he would like to see the
number to fall below 10,000 per day before flu season starts in October.
Health officials and President Donald Trump have presented different views about
the nation's health crisis. Trump, who is seeking re-election to a second term
on Nov. 3, early this month had claimed that the United States was “rounding the
corner” on the crisis. Fauci contradicted the claim the next day, saying the
statistics were disturbing.
(Reporting by Anurag Maan and Roshan Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
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