California, Texas and Florida all set records for the number of new coronavirus cases in one day, which one expert said is not due just to increased testing.
The three most-populous US states set those records while nationally, 34,720 new cases were reported Tuesday in the US — the third-highest number of new cases reported in one day since the beginning of the pandemic, based on a data archive kept by Johns Hopkins University.
And while some politicians say that increased testing is the cause of increased positive cases, that is not necessarily so, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota.
In Texas, new cases and hospitalizations are rising at their fastest rate yet, with the state reporting 5,551 cases on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 5,489 set the day before, health authorities said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged people to stay home due to the surge, with some health officials calling for a stricter stay-at-home order.
“Because the spread is so rampant right now, there’s never a reason for you to have to leave your home,” Abbott told CNN affiliate KBTX.
In the nation’s most populous state, California obliterated its previous single-day high with 7,149 cases reported on Tuesday, according to state Department of Public Health.
The previous record, set the day before, was just more than 5,000. Hospitalization and ICU rates due to the virus are also at an all-time high in the state.
In Florida, the state reported 5,511 new cases on Tuesday, the highest number in a single day, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has attributed the rise to “testing more” but others says community transmission is still playing a role as the state reopens.