Coronavirus Cases Further Increase in Some Countries
In an attempt to fight the coronavirus outbreak, many countries around the world imposed lockdowns – ranging from partial to full restrictions on public life. However, as those measures have been slowly lifting, several countries are still seeing spikes in new COVID-19 infections.
The overall number of confirmed coronavirus globally now stands at 9.4 million, and more than 480,000 people have died, based on Johns Hopkins University data.
The latest surge in cases has caused fears of a second wave of pandemic growth. This is because some countries that seemingly passed the peak of infections months ago are experiencing new outbreaks.
The United States
In the U.S., coronavirus continues to increase in certain states, specifically in the south and west of the country.
The number of cases reached a new record high last Wednesday with 45.557 diagnoses reported, based on a tally from NBC News.
Moreover, Arizona, Arkansas, Texas, and Utah are some of the states experiencing a surge in coronavirus hospitalizations. Following this, California and Florida announced their biggest daily spikes in new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. Houston, meanwhile, has stated that their intensive-care unit beds are near capacity.
Also, the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – which were once the epicenters of the epidemic in the U.S. – have ordered visitors from particular hotspot states, such as Florida, to quarantine for 14 days.
As of now, over 2.38 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the U.S., and at least 121,979 deaths have been listed.
Germany
People see Germany as the poster-child for its approach to fighting the spread of coronavirus in the country. It received a lot of praise for implementing early widespread testing and contract tracing for anyone infected with the virus. It has also successfully kept hospitalizations and death tolls low.
Still, with all that, it has continued to struggle in recent weeks. And this was due to a handful of significant outbreaks at meat-processing plants.
The most massive has been the latest outbreak at a plant in the district of Gütersloh in North Rhine-Westphalia. More than 1,500 workers at the Tönnies meat-processing plant tested positive from about 7,000 total employees. Many have been criticizing the meat-processing industry for its poor working and living conditions.
On Wednesday, they reported another outbreak at a smaller meat-processing plant in Lower Saxony.
Currently, Germany has 192,871 confirmed coronavirus cases. And it has announced 8,933 deaths overall.
Brazil
Last weekend, the number of infections increased in Brazil – a country that globally holds the second largest number of coronavirus cases. It has had more than 1.18 million confirmed cases and nearly 54,000 fatalities.
Some are accusing Brazil’s government, under President Jair Bolsonaro, of attempting to cover up the country’s coronavirus statistics. And earlier in June, there was an uproar when Brazil’s health ministry stopped publishing daily infection and death data. After a Supreme Court ruling, it resumed its publications.
With almost 55,000 new infections reported on Sunday, Brazil saw its largest increase in daily infections. But this was partly due to a lag in reporting from the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo. With all that, it is compounding data over two days, according to the World Health Organization.
