US reports second-highest day of new coronavirus cases as Arizona, California set records
- The U.S. reported more than 44,700 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the second-highest daily increase.
- As of Tuesday, the U.S. reported 41,132 new cases based on a seven-day moving average.
- Tuesday marked the sixth day the seven-day average exceeded previous highs set in April, when some officials thought the U.S. reached its peak.
The U.S. reported more than 44,700 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the second-highest daily increase since the beginning of the nation's outbreak, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The newly reported cases bring the nation's total to more than 2.63 million cases, roughly a quarter of the globes' near 10.5 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins.
As of Tuesday, the U.S. reported an average of 41,132 new cases, based on the previous seven days to eliminate fluctuations in daily reporting. Tuesday marked the sixth day that average exceeded previous highs set in April, when some officials thought the U.S. reached its peak.
New cases rose by 5% or more in 40 states across the U.S., including in states like Florida, California and Texas.
Daily new case counts could surpass 100,000 new infections per day if the outbreak continues at its current pace, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress on Tuesday. He said the U.S. is "not in total control" of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that 50% of new cases are coming from four states: Florida, California, Texas and Arizona.
"I'm very concerned and I'm not satisfied with what's going on because we're going in the wrong direction if you look at the curves of the new cases, so we really have got to do something about that and we need to do it quickly," Fauci told senators in a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
On Wednesday, both California and Arizona reported record increases in new cases, according to their health departments. California state officials later said that some of those new cases were confirmed earlier, but weren't reported in the state's official tally until Wednesday due to a backlog in reporting among local health departments. Arizona is nearing max capacity of intensive care unit beds with 1,495, or 89%, of the state's ICU beds in use as of Tuesday.
Texas reported a record increase in new cases and people hospitalized with Covid-19 on Tuesday, according to the state's health department. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered hospitals Tuesday to postpone elective surgeries in four additional counties to preserve space for Covid-19 patients.
There are now eight counties in Texas that have been ordered to postpone elective procedures. On June 25, Abbott suspended procedures in Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties, which include the state's largest cities: San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Austin, respectively.
Texas is one of 16 states that are subject to New York's travel advisory, requiring all travelers headed to New York from those states to quarantine for 14 days. Eight states — California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee — were added to New York's original list due to "significant community spread" of Covid-19, according to the order.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced a similar advisory on Tuesday that instructs travelers arriving from most states to self-quarantine for 14 days. Visitors from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York and New Jersey are exempt from the directive.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the city will postpone reopening indoor dining areas in restaurants due the sudden surge of cases in other parts of the country.
"We see a lot of problems and we particularly see problems revolving around people going back to bars and restaurants indoors. Indoors is the problem more and more, the science is showing it more and more," de Blasio said at a press briefing.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy previously announced on Monday that he would also delay reopening indoor dining in the state, which was planned for Thursday.
— CNBC's Nate Rattner, Jasmine Kim and Hannah Miller contributed to this report.