This archive report was first published on 13 June 2020.
As the nation grapples with the ongoing pandemic, a surge in COVID-19 cases has raised concerns across the US. Despite some initial hotspots, such as New York, experiencing significant declines, other areas are seeing a rise in new cases.
According to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, the increasing number of hospitalizations in some regions suggests a disturbing uptick in new infections. While some officials attribute the rise to increased testing, others see a more complex issue at play.
“Whenever you loosen mitigation, you can expect you’ll see new infections, I think it would be unrealistic to think that you won’t,” Dr. Fauci said in an interview on ABC News’s Powerhouse Politics podcast. “The critical issue is how do you prevent those new infections that you see from all of a sudden emerging into something that is a spike, and that’s the thing that we hope we will be able to contain.”
Texas, which had initially avoided the worst of the virus, is now seeing a significant rise in cases. The state reported over 2,000 new cases on both Wednesday and Thursday, with the counties including Houston and Dallas experiencing some of the nation's largest single-day rises. Other areas, such as Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Lubbock, McAllen, and Midland, are also seeing a trend upward.
Mayor Eric Johnson of Dallas attributed the increased caseload to an expansion of testing and the reopening of the economy. However, he also expressed concern about the low rate of mask-wearing in the city.
Meanwhile, Harris County, which includes Houston, has introduced a new color-coded system to gauge the virus. The current threat level is orange, indicating a “significant and uncontrolled” level of COVID-19.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio expressed concern about the pace of the state's phased reopening plan, stating, “We’re kind of blowing through phases before we have an understanding of the impact of that decision.”
