States, U.S. Hit Set New Records for COVID Cases

October 26, 2020 – The coronavirus pandemic continues to pound the United States as record number of cases are reported from around the country.

The 7-day average of new cases in the U.S. topped 68,000 on Sunday. That’s more than 1,000 cases higher than the previous record reported July 22.

Friday and Saturday set records for single-day cases with more than 83,000 reported over the 48-hour period, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Finally, six states — Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Ohio and Oklahoma — announced their highest numbers on Saturday, both in major cities and rural areas. The counties that include Anchorage, Chicago, El Paso, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City set records Saturday as well.

One epidemiologist predicts case counts will keep going up.

“We easily will hit six-figure numbers in terms of the number of cases,” Michael Osterholm, PhD, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN. “And the deaths are going to go up precipitously in the next 3 to 4 weeks, following usually new cases by about 2 to 3 weeks.”

Since the pandemic began, almost 8.63 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the United States, with nearly 225,000 coronavirus-related deaths, Johns Hopkins says.

“This is exploding all over the country,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told The New York Times. The state is among 17 that reported record numbers of cases during the past week.

Chicago placed new restrictions on bars and non-essential businesses on Friday, enforcing a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. New Mexico also started new restrictions on Friday, including “hotspot” businesses such as bars and restaurants. Retail shops, grocery stores and locations that serve alcohol are required to close by 10 p.m.

“Over the next week, two weeks, three weeks, please be extremely conservative in deciding how much time to spend outside of the home,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement about the new restrictions.

“The visit to friends can wait — it’s not worth your life, or theirs,” she said. “The visit to family can wait — it’s not worth your life, or theirs.”