As new cases reach another record in the U.S., some states stall on reopenings.

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  The United States on Thursday reported more than 41,000 new coronavirus cases, a record total for the second straight day, as a nationwide sense of urgency grew and caseloads soared in Southern and Western states that were far removed from the worst early outbreaks.
  Thursday’s grim record came as at least four states — Alabama, Alaska, Montana and Utah — reported their largest daily totals.

  California, where stay-at-home orders were imposed particularly early in the pandemic, surpassed 200,000 total cases on Thursday, as its number of infections doubled over the past month. That is the second highest total for any state, though California’s per capita infection rate remains far lower than New York’s.

  
  
  
   
  In some Southern and Western states, the virus has overwhelmed hospitals and forced officials to stall on plans to lift virus-related restrictions. On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said that he did not intend to move to the next phase of reopening, while Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas paused his state’s reopening process and moved to free up hospital space for coronavirus patients.

  
  

  Miami-Dade County’s mayor, Carlos Giménez, has said that all plans to move forward are on pause. Beaches, malls and hotels are open, as well as restaurants at 50 percent capacity, but concert halls, public pools, massage and tattoo parlors are not.

  “We’re not opening up bars, we’re not opening up nightclubs,” Mr. Giménez said Wednesday. “That’s just asking for trouble.”

  
  

   And in a stark reminder of what officials still don’t know about the scope of the outbreak in the United States, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that number of Americans who have been infected with the coronavirus is most likely about 10 times the 2.3 million cases that have been reported.
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• The C.D.C. is basing those estimates on antibody test results from across the country. The tests detect whether an individual has ever had Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as opposed to diagnostic tests, which detect current infections. Both types of tests have been plagued by accuracy problems, although the antibody tests, which are based on blood samples rather than nasal swabs, have had a higher rate of failures.
• During the call, the C.D.C. also clarified some of its previous reports on who is at increased risk of getting severely ill from Covid-19. Older people do have a higher risk of severe cases, the agency said, but that is in part because they are more likely to have other underlying medical problems, such as chronic kidney disease, lung disease, serious heart conditions, sickle cell disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
• Younger people are making up a growing percentage of new cases in cities and states where the virus is now surging, a trend that has alarmed public health officials and prompted renewed pleas for masks and social distancing.
  “What is clear is that the proportion of people who are younger appears to have dramatically changed,” said Joseph McCormick, a professor of epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health in Brownsville, Texas. “It’s really quite disturbing.”
• In Arizona, where drive-up sites are overwhelmed by people seeking coronavirus tests, people ages 20 to 44 account for nearly half of all cases. In Florida, which breaks records for new cases nearly every day, the median age of residents testing positive for the virus has dropped to 35, down from 65 in March.
• And in Texas, where the governor paused the reopening process on Thursday as hospitals grow increasingly crowded, young people now account for the majority of new cases in several urban centers. In Cameron County, which includes Brownsville and the tourist town of South Padre Island, people under 40 make up more than half of newly reported cases.
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• New York City is on track to ease more restrictions on July 6, the mayor said.

   Mayor Bill de Blasio said NYC would allow indoor dining and personal-care services, like manicures, tattooing and waxing, to resume with social-distancing limits.

  When Phase 3 begins, the city will also reopen outdoor recreational spaces, including basketball courts, tennis courts and dog runs, the mayor said. (Separately, the city’s public beaches will open to swimming on July 1.)

  Mr. de Blasio said he expected the change would come as a particular relief to children, who have been cooped up for months now, with limited access to school, friends and outdoor activities.

  The mayor said that the city had continued to keep its infection rate down as it eased earlier restrictions. But as he has with each stage of the reopening, Mr. de Blasio cautioned that plans could change if the city’s infection rate surges.

  For the first time since March 18, fewer than 1,000 people were hospitalized in the state with the virus, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Thursday. At the peak of the state’s outbreak, more than 18,000 were hospitalized; the number is now down to 996. Statewide, there were an additional 17 deaths, he said.
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• More than $1.4 billion in stimulus checks went to dead people, the Government Accountability Office said.

  The Treasury Department, working with the Internal Revenue Service, raced to deliver nearly $270 billion in economic impact payments to Americans this spring. But a chunk of the money ended up in the wrong places.
  The improper payments reflect some of the wasteful government spending that occurred in the wake of the rapid economic stabilization effort that was undertaken after Congress passed a $2.6 trillion bailout package in March.
  The report noted that while the I.R.S. typically uses death records maintained by the Social Security Administration to prevent improper payments, that did not happen with the first three batches of stimulus payments. The Treasury and the I.R.S. “did not use the death records to stop payments to deceased individuals for the first three batches of payments” because of a legal interpretation of the legislation authorizing the payments. I.R.S. lawyers “determined that I.R.S. did not have the legal authority to deny payments to those who filed a return for 2019, even if they were deceased at the time of payment,” the report found.

  The G.A.O. recommended that the I.R.S. gain full access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records to help prevent money from being paid to the deceased. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the heirs of the deceased who received stimulus money should give the funds back.
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