Coronavirus cases are declining in only 2 states as virus surges in US

• Only two US states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, are reporting declining coronavirus cases, per CNN.
• 36 states are seeing rising cases, while numbers are holding steady in the remaining states.
• The US has been breaking records for new daily cases, with an all-time one-day high of 40,000 new cases on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
• Nearly half of US states started reopening in late April and early May without meeting White House requirements.
• The US now has 2,510,337 confirmed cases, with global cases exceeding 10 million.
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As the coronavirus surges in the US, only two states — Connecticut and Rhode Island — are reporting declining cases, per CNN.

In 36 states, cases are rising, with the country reaching an all-time one-day high of 40,000 new cases on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

Globally, confirmed cases have exceeded 10 million, with 2,510,337 of those in the US, per Johns Hopkins University.

The growth of new US cases could have multiple causes, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, the nation’s top doctor, said in an interview with Business Insider on Saturday.

“In some places it may be because they did in fact reopen too early,” Adams told Business Insider. “In other cases it may be that they reopened right on time and that the governmental institutions and public health institutions did everything right, but that the citizens did not have the will or desire or the follow through to do the social distancing that we have recommended, and to wear coverings as we have recommended.”

Nearly half of US states started reopening in late April and early May without meeting White House requirements, which dictated that states should wait to see downward trends in cases or positive tests before reopening, as Business Insider’s Aria Bendix recently reported.

Now, the 36 states seeing a surge in new cases include California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Nevada, and Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said last week he would pause the state’s reopening, and the next day he closed bars and limited restaurant capacity.

Connecticut and Rhode Island, however, have so far bucked the trend of swelling infection rates.

In Connecticut, the first phase of reopening from its lockdown started on May 20, after several days of declining cases and hospitalizations. The state entered its second reopening phase of on June 17, a few days ahead of schedule, as hospitalizations and infection rates remained low.

Rhode Island’s first phase of reopening started on May 9, after Gov. Gina Raimondo said that cases and hospitalizations had held steady for two weeks, with a 25% drop in new cases in that time period. Since then, average new cases have continued to decline, with hospitalizations dropping below 100 on Friday.

Gov. Raimondo had said back in April that, before reopening, Rhode Island would need to meet requirements that included 14 days with decreasing new cases, the capacity to quickly identify community spread, adequate capacity in the healthcare system, and plans for long-term social distancing measures.