US Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about his administration's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
US Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about his administration's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
As businesses reopen it might seem like the US is returning to normal, but instead the country is hurtling towards a worrying new record.
As states allow businesses to reopen and people go back to work it might seem that the United States is finally getting on top of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the opposite is true, with the US instead hurtling towards a worrying Covid-19 record — a million new cases in just over two weeks.
The spread of the virus is picking up speed, with the United States having the dubious honour of being the country with the most confirmed cases and deaths.
After the US reported its first coronavirus case on January 21 it took 99 days for the country to have a million confirmed cases, CNN reports.
From there it took 43 days for the US to reach two million, and then by July 8, there were three million Americans diagnosed with Covid-19.
As of today Johns Hopkins University is reporting that the United States is sitting on 3.97 million confirmed coronavirus cases, meaning the country will have four million cases just over two weeks after hitting its last million milestone.
US Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about his administration's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
On Wednesday alone there were 68,706 new cases and 1152 deaths, with cases surging in Florida, Arizona, Georgia, California and Texas.
There are also now higher rates of Americans being tested for coronavirus returning positive results.
In May, Florida was on average returning 35 positive results per 1000 tests in contrast with this month, where it has had 105 positive results per 1000 tests done.
California, the first state to shut down when the pandemic began, is battling a second wave of cases after reopening bars and indoor restaurants.
Indoor bars and restaurants were forced to close again this month, with California now having the most confirmed cases of any US state.
Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer said coronavirus was becoming a leading cause of death there.
"It's killing more people than Alzheimer's disease, other kinds of heart disease, stroke and COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]."
In Florida one mayor has said the state is at "breaking point" as a surge in cases means there are not enough hospital beds.
"It's at breaking point now, we're at a critical stage," Mayor Carlos Hernandez of Hialeah, Florida, said.
"State hospitals are at full capacity. I spoke to two or three large hospitals in our city late last night. Two of them have cancelled non-emergency surgeries, and they're really, really at the point – it's a breaking point."
Trump on Tuesday warned that the pandemic was likely to get worse before it gets better but repeated his claim that the pandemic would somehow "disappear".
The President has been a critic of lockdown measures and has argued in favour of reopening the economy even as death tolls have climbed.
The production of a vaccine is now being seen as key to ensuring a return to something close to normality.
More than 200 candidate drugs are being developed, with 23 having progressed to clinical trials.
The United States has agreed to pay almost US$2.8 billion for 100 million doses of a potential vaccine being developed by German firm BioNTech and US giant Pfizer.
Another leading candidate, developed in part by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, registered promising results from clinical trials this week.
But the firm's chief said on Tuesday a global rollout was not imminent. "We hope to be able to produce a vaccine by the end of the year … perhaps a little earlier if all goes well," said Pascal Soriot.
