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| The US recorded 45,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the largest single-day increase of the pandemic after the number of infections surged in at least seven states including Florida, Georgia, Utah, Tennessee, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona. |
New Numbers Showing Coronavirus Spread Intrude on a White House in Denial
In the past week, President Donald Trump hosted an indoor campaign rally for thousands of cheering, unmasked supporters even as a deadly virus spread throughout the country. He began easing up on restrictions that had been in place at the White House since Washington instituted a stay-at-home order in response to the coronavirus in March, and he invited the president of Poland to a day of meetings. Then, Thursday, he flew to Wisconsin to brag about an economic recovery that he said was just around the corner.
But by Friday, it was impossible to fully ignore the fact that the pandemic the White House has for weeks insisted was winding down has done just the opposite.
The rising numbers in Texas, Florida and Arizona made that clear, as well as the reality that those are all states where the president and his Republican allies had urged people to return to normal.
In a reflection of a growing sense of anxiety over the new numbers, Vice President Mike Pence and members of the coronavirus task force held a public briefing for the first time in two months. But ever loyal to Trump’s desire for good news, Pence tried to tiptoe around the statistics that Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the task force coordinator, pointed to, showing surging cases and hospitalizations in Florida, Texas, Arizona and other states.
- The shared burden of millions of Americans suspending their lives — with jobs lost and daily life upended — has not been enough to beat back Covid-19.
- As cases surge, it is clear many governors underestimated the virus and rushed to reopen too soon, our correspondents write in an analysis.
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State election officials face shortages of money, poll workers, capacity to print ballots and public trust — without much time to fix them.