California coronavirus cases hit 10,000 in a day as Trump backs therapy drugs over vaccine
As entertaining as all this is, let’s not forget that the real issue at the moment remains the coronavirus.
California reported more than 10,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, a record rise for a single day that also surpassed the number of contact tracers recently trained by the state to detect and prevent potential outbreaks.
California is one of several states that have reported surging numbers of new infections over the past week, raising pointed questions about how Trump has handled the crisis and impeding state plans to lift lockdowns.
The 10,201 new cases reported on Tuesday took the total number of cases in the state since the start of the pandemic to nearly 284,00. In June, California infections more than doubled with over 117,000 new cases.
The daily increase exceeds the 10,000 contact tracers governor Gavin Newsom announced in mid-May, when case numbers were waning, as part of plans to reopen the state.
Newsom said then that more than 500 people had already been trained to work as “disease detectives”, using state databases to trace and advise people who had been in contact with confirmed cases.
However, instead of further reopening the state economy, Newsom last week rolled back those efforts, banning indoor restaurant dining in much of the state, closing bars and stepping up enforcement of social distancing. Indoor activities at restaurants, movie theaters, museums and other facilities were banned in 19 counties where 70 per cent of the population lives for at least three weeks.
Only three other states have reported more than 10,000 cases in a day. Florida reported 11,458 new cases on 4 July and Texas reported 10,028 on Tuesday.
New York recorded 12,847 new infections on 10 April, three weeks after the state implemented a strict lockdown that closed most businesses. Once the epicentre of the US leg of the global epidemic, New York saw cases rise by about 6 per cent in June – the lowest rate in the entire country.
As for Trump, he insisted yesterday during an event on reopening US schools that coronavirus therapy drugs are his priority, not developing a vaccine, as Dr Anthony Fauci again warned against “false complacency” with president continuing to claim the levelling out of the US mortality rate as a victory.
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