In the United States, the enduring spread of the coronavirus continues to hit record daily infections with no sign of stopping. On Thursday, total new cases across the country surpassed 55,000, the highest number of cases recording in the U.S. since the pandemic began. More than half of the 50 states in the U.S. have seen a significant rise in coronavirus infections in the past two weeks, with Florida taking the lead with more than 10,000 new infections reported on Thursday.
Overwhelmed, many state governments have begun issuing mandatory masks orders in public spaces, ranging from in certain situations like public transit and grocery stores to any place outside of the home. Most notably, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered that all residents in any country with over 20 or more positive cases needs to wear masks in public starting Thursday. Abbott was originally against mandatory masks wearings for the people of Texas, with his state being on of the first to roll back coronavirus related social restrictions back in May.
Yet, calls for a nationwide public mask orders are still being rejected by the federal government. Vice President Mike Pence, head of the White House's Coronavirus Task Force, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street": "It's not a one-size-all approach whether it be on testing or on supplies and one mitigation efforts. What we want to do is empower governors and local officials to give the [mask] guidance to the people in those communities that are more appropriate to those circumstances."
In response to the uncontained outbreaks in the Southern and Western parts of the country, the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Chicago have joined the growing list of states that are requiring travelers to quarantine for 14-days. The two locations' health departments are calling for travelers from the usual list of 15 states to either self-isolate or face a fine starting within the week. Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House infectious disease advisor, interviewed with BBC News Thursday on the state of the coronavirus infection in the United States compared to Europe.
"If you look at the different curve between the European Union, the U.K. and others, how they've handled the outbreak, they've had big spikes and then they've brought it down almost or even to baseline in some counties," Fauci stated. "The situation in the United States has been more problematic."
The U.S. health official noted that lockdown efforts in many European countries effected about 97% of social activity, while the strictest efforts in the United States only halts at most 50% of public movement.
"That allowed the perpetuation of the outbreak that we never did get under very good control," Fauci added. Fauci was very concerned about the direction the U.S. outbreak is taking, stating that the current state is the worst we have seen and the further risk is even greater.
Total Global Cases: Over 10.97 Million
Total Deaths: Over 523,000
Total Recovered: Over 6.13 Million