The coronavirus is surging in several southern hotspots of the nation, including Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona, while it has almost entirely receded from its former epicentre in New York and the north-east.
The United States on Wednesday passed another grim COVID-19 milestone with three million confirmed cases, as President Donald Trump aggressively pushed for schools to reopen.
The coronavirus is surging in several southern hotspots of the nation, including Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona, while it has almost entirely receded from its former epicentre in New York and the north-east.
Johns Hopkins University put the total of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 3,009,611, in its real-time tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
“At this point, we have tested more than 39 million Americans,” US Vice President Mike Pence told reporters.
“Among those, more than three million Americans have tested positive and more than 1.3 million Americans have recovered.”
Trump embarked on a morning tweetstorm ahead of a public meeting of his coronavirus task force, in which he called for students to return to their schools in fall and lashed out at his top health agency. “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and many other countries, schools are open with no problems,” he said.
“The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November election, but is important for the children and families. May cut off funding if not open!”
He added that he disagreed with guidance for reopening schools set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and would be “meeting with them!!!”