Frustration about the pandemic response has mounted among local leaders, who say they have had to grapple with conflicting orders and frequently changing guidelines from governors and the White House as they try to curb sharply rising infections.<\/p>\n

After Texas reported another single-day record for new coronavirus cases over the weekend, Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) told CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d that there won\u2019t be enough medical personnel to keep up with the spike in cases if the rate of increase continues unabated in his city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t change this trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun,\u201d he said, adding that intensive care units in the city could be overflowing within 10 days. He said he was not sure that Texas needed a statewide shelter-in-place order but that he wanted the authority to impose one locally.<\/p>\n

Hidalgo echoed Alder\u2019s concerns in an interview with ABC News\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d saying hospitals in Harris County were entering surge capacity.<\/p>\n

She said she had been stripped of authority to issue stay-at-home orders, as she did in the early weeks of the outbreak, after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) decided to move forward with an aggressive reopening plan in the spring. All she could do now was issue \u201crecommendations,\u201d which were nowhere near as effective, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as we\u2019re doing as little as possible and hoping for the best, we\u2019re always going to be chasing this thing, we\u2019re always going to be behind, and the virus will always outrun us,\u201d Hidalgo said. \u201cAnd so what we need right now is to do what works, which is a stay-home order.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Florida, which also reported a record caseload Saturday, Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez (R) said it was \u201cclear that the growth is exponential at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that when we reopened, people started socializing as if the virus didn\u2019t exist,\u201d he told ABC News. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely worrisome.”<\/p>\n

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego (D) attributed soaring case numbers in Arizona to the state\u2019s decision to resume business as usual before the virus was under control. She noted that young people who ignored health precautions had probably led the explosion in cases.<\/p>\n

Gallego said federal officials had dismissed her requests to conduct community-based testing in the area after people reported waiting in line for six hours at some testing sites. \u201cWe were told they\u2019re moving away from that,\u201d she said, \u201cwhich feels like they are declaring victory while we\u2019re still in crisis mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

The warnings came after President Trump said Saturday that his administration had made \u201ca lot of progress\u201d slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States.<\/p>\n

Speaking at an Independence Day event on the White House lawn, Trump said the country had \u201clearned how to put out the flame\u201d of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur strategy is moving along well,\u201d he said, thanking front-line pandemic workers for their work. \u201cIt goes out in one area and rears back its ugly face in another area. But we have learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued to assert that testing had driven up new case numbers \u2014 a claim contradicted by rising positivity rates and widely disputed by epidemiologists \u2014 and said the country was making progress on developing therapeutics and a vaccine.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, the rolling seven-day average for new cases reached a new high of 48,361 on Saturday, up 11,740 from a week ago, according to tracking by The Washington Post. Eighteen states also reported new average highs.<\/p>\n

Officials continued to plead with the public to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings to stop the virus from spreading deeper into communities. Several more major U.S. cities, including Cincinnati and Cleveland, passed ordinances requiring people to wear face coverings while in public.<\/p>\n

Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n