WASHINGTON, July 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States posted a new daily record of 67,632 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University, which tracks the spread of the disease.
The global leader in infections has seen a surge in the virus since late June, mostly in the south and west of the country.
For the past 10 days, the number of new cases being reported has been between 55,000 and 65,000 every 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt said he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the first time a US state governor has announced they were infected.
Oklahoma reported a record case increase for the second day in a row on Wednesday, with 1,075 new cases, bringing its total to 22,813.
Stitt had faced a backlash in recent days after posting on Twitter a picture of himself and two of his children at a crowded restaurant, even as state health authorities urged social distancing to slow the outbreak.
“I got tested yesterday for COVID-19 and the results came back positive,” Stitt said in a video conference call with reporters. “I feel fine, really, I mean you might say I’m asymptomatic or just slightly kind of a little bit achy.”
Stitt was at a rally held by US President Donald Trump in Tulsa on June 20 that was attended by thousands of people, most of them not wearing masks, against the advice of health officials to not gather in large groups.
The first-term Republican governor said he had worked with contact tracers on when his symptoms developed and they believed he would not have been contagious before Saturday.
Although Stitt encourages Oklahomans to wear face masks, he rarely wears one in public himself and, unlike some other governors, has not issued a statewide mask mandate.
Several US officials have tested positive for the virus, including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Louisiana’s attorney general, Jeff Landry, cancelled a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday after testing positive. Landry said he had no symptoms and was taking medication prescribed by his doctor.
On Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticised young people in the third largest US city for not taking the pandemic seriously enough, citing data showing an increase in cases among people from the ages of 18 to 29. — NNN-AGENCIES
