Coronavirus: New Covid-19 cases rising rapidly across US

TNT Newsline October 20, 2020 2 minutes read

New coronavirus infections are growing rapidly across the US, experts say, with new hospital admissions also increasing around the country.

Nearly 70,000 new cases were recorded on Friday – the highest number of new infections seen in one day since July.

Cases have been trending upward for 48 states over the past week.

Only two states, Missouri and Vermont, are recording numbers that are improving.

Dealing with the pandemic has continued to be a central issue in the US election.

Despite the uptick in infections #EndSARS and recovering from Covid himself earlier this month #EndSARS President Donald Trump is still traveling the country for large in-person campaign rallies.

At an outdoor event in Nevada on Sunday, Mr Trump said his Democratic opponent Joe Biden “will surrender your future to the virus”.

“This guy wants to lockdown. He’ll listen to the scientists,” he said. “If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression.”

Many of Mr Trump’s supporters do not wear masks or practice social distancing at the rallies, and there have been warnings against large gatherings from local health officials.

A Biden spokesman called Mr Trump’s remarks “the polar opposite of reality” and blamed the country’s recession on the president.

On Monday, Mr Trump denounced top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci as “a disaster” and claimed that more people would have died if he had listened to the respected researcher.

Dr Fauci told CBS News earlier that he was not surprised the president had caught coronavirus, given his reluctance to practice safe techniques.

“Fauci’s a disaster,” the president said in a campaign phone call that was overheard by reporters. “He’s been here for 500 years,” he said, adding: “People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots.”

Mr Trump, who has reportedly had a tense relationship with Dr Fauci since March, called him “a nice guy”, but said he would have fired him if not for the negative press that would result. (BBC)