ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Coronavirus cases in Florida surpassed 100,000 on Monday, part of an alarming surge across the U.S. West and South as states reopen for business and many Americans resist wearing masks or keeping their distance.
Some public health officials are warning that progress won after months of lockdowns could be slipping. And hospitals in areas seeing an uptick in cases are warning that intensive care beds were filling again, and urging communities to do what it takes to control any new outbreaks.
An Associated Press analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University finds that new daily confirmed coronavirus cases across the country are up to more than 26,000 a day, up from about 21,000 a day two weeks ago.
"It is possible to open up at a judicious pace and coexist with the virus, but it requires millions and millions of people to do the right thing. Right now, we don’t have that," because people have let their guard down, Dr. Marc Boom, CEO and president of Houston Methodist Hospital, told the AP.
Over 120,000 deaths in the U.S. have been blamed on the virus.