Ten US states saw more than double COVID-19 cases in June

By
Reuters
Few people wear masks as they walk on the beach pier during the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Oceanside, California, U.S., June 22, 2020. — Reuters/Files

Coronavirus cases more than doubled in at least 10 US states, including Florida and Texas in the month of June, a Reuters analysis on Tuesday showed.

Arizona recorded the biggest jump in cases for the month at 294%, followed by South Carolina and Arkansas. Cases also more than doubled in Alabama, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Utah.

Nationally cases rose by at least 43% and deaths increased by 20%. Several states have yet to report cases on Tuesday.

While much of the world appears over the worst of the pandemic, the United States and a few other countries are still seeing huge daily spikes.

In the six months since the World Health Organization (WHO) first reported a cluster of mysterious pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, more than 500,000 people have died from the coronavirus, including over 126,000 Americans.

A strong national response, stringent lockdowns and mandatory mask wearing in public helped bring the pandemic under control in much of Asia and Europe.

In the past week, 21 U.S. states reported rates of people testing positive for the virus above the 5% level that the WHO has flagged as concerning. Arizona has the highest rate in the country at 24%.

Cases increased by less than 10% in June in just four states - New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey.

New York, once the epicenter of the U.S. epidemic, saw cases rise by about 6% in June - the lowest rate in the country - after strict lockdown and social distancing measures were put in place to help bring the disease under control.