U.S. surpasses 4 million coronavirus cases
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed 4 million on Thursday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. A million of those cases were reported in roughly the last two weeks.
More than 15.3 million coronavirus cases have now been reported worldwide. The U.S. has by far the most confirmed cases and deaths of any country. The country with the next highest tally, Brazil, has over 2 million cases and 82,000 deaths.
The virus had killed more than 143,000 people in the U.S. as of Thursday, up from 131,000 on July 8, just over two weeks ago.
Globally, more than 625,000 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
America's steady increase in cases has been fueled by surges in states after they started reopening.
Florida is one of those states. Over 10,000 new cases were reported in the state on Wednesday, according to its health department. The state has now reported 389,868 confirmed cases and 5,632 deaths due to the virus.
Texas has also seen a surge, as has California, which now tops New York as the state with the most reported cases.
Only five states have seen a decrease in confirmed cases over the past two weeks, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, which compiles data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Cases in Arizona, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia and Maine decreased over the past 14 days.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that cases have leveled in the state due to its "smart reopening" plan that has phased in non-essential services. The governor said that New York is now closely monitoring increases in other states.
"We do face a threat from the states that rushed reopening and are not ready," Cuomo said at a press briefing. According to the governor, large gatherings are to blame for other state's significant increases over a short period of time.
"We know why … it's not hard to understand what's going on," Cuomo said. "Young people, this is not the time to fight for your right to party."
In Florida, communities across the southern part of the state have imposed curfews in an effort to regulate large gatherings. The famed South Beach area now has an 8 p.m. curfew.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber recently said his city "can't have anything resembling Bourbon Street right now," CBS Miami reported.