The leaders who have had covid-19 0:52
(CNN) –– While the death rate for covid-19 may be on the decline, the nearly 3 million cases and capacity intensive care units show that the United States is still in a pandemic with no signs of slowing down.
"It is a false narrative to console us with a lower death rate," warned the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, at a press conference Tuesday with Senator Doug Jones, a Democrat. from Alabama. "There are so many other things that are very dangerous and bad with this virus, don't go into false complacency."
The White House has repeatedly pointed to the drop in the death rate as evidence that the nation has the virus under control. But many other pandemic metrics continue to rise.
- Dr. Fauci's disturbing prognosis: Infections and death toll will be "very disturbing" if current trends persist
So far, more than 2.9 million cases and 131,480 deaths from covid-19 have been reported across the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States saw a record number of 60,021 new infections on Tuesday. Across the country, 35 states are seeing an increasing number of new cases compared to last week.
In Florida, where cases have increased, intensive care units in 56 hospitals have reached capacity. And in Arizona, the state has set a record for daily death counts approximately once a week, including Tuesday, the same day the state reported the lowest number of beds available in intensive care units.
"We need medical professionals, we need test kits, we need supplies right away," Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Tuesday. "Our hospital is already in a desperate situation and they tell us that in the next two weeks it will reach an unbearable level of crisis."
California and Texas set grim records
California and Texas are among the record-setting states as cases increase nationwide.
With nearly 6,000 patients, Tuesday, hospitalizations in California are at their highest point. On Tuesday there was a 3.4% increase in new patients from the previous day.
The state also registered a record number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
- 56 intensive care units in Florida hospitals have reached capacity
Texas had its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases, Tuesday, with 10,028 new infections reported. The total for the state is now more than 210,000 cases and 2,715 deaths.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that a testing site in Edinburg will offer 5,000 free tests per day, between Wednesday and July 14, in an effort to increase testing at critical points.
"This new surge test site will help us identify and mitigate the spread of covid-19 in the Rio Grande Valley and keep Texans safe," Abbott said in the statement. "We remain committed to working with our local and federal partners to develop more ways to combat the covid-19 pandemic and protect public health."
"Wear a mask. Point"
As of Monday, 35 states, in addition to Washington and Puerto Rico, had implemented some kind of mask-ordering order, and Fauci indicated that he is "firmly in favor" of the mandates to stop the spread.
"When you look at what we can do we know it works, it is wearing masks, physical distance and avoiding crowds," Fauci said Tuesday. “So if you're saying it doesn't matter if you put it on or take it off, you're giving the wrong mixed signal. The sign should be: wear a mask. Point".
- What are the best materials to make homemade face masks?
If most Americans pay attention to that signal, as many as 45,000 fewer Americans will die of coronaviruses this fall, according to Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Assessment and Measurement (IHME) at the University of Washington.
The latest model, released Tuesday, projects up to 208,000 coronavirus deaths by November 1. The new death rate comes from the recent increase in cases combined with seasonality and the reopening of schools, Murray said.
But that number drops to 163,000 if most Americans wear a mask, depending on the model.
"It's an incredibly simple strategy and intervention," Murray told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It is one that will save lives, but it will also help the economy tremendously because it will prevent closures that will inevitably occur when things quickly spiral out of control in some states."
College students may return in the fall, but not all
Colleges and universities across the country are studying how to safely reopen and keep students in the classroom in the fall semester.
New York University (NYU) has implemented mask requirements and physical distance measurements for the next semester. Enrollment and space capacity will be limited, and classroom occupancy will be reduced by 50%, according to an email from NYU leadership to the community.
- International students may have to leave the US if their universities decide to teach only online
As of July 15, all students, faculty, and visitors to the Georgia University System will also be required to wear masks, the USG announced on its website.
And while Columbia University announced that college students and students at Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will be returning in the fall, they will only receive 60%. Most classes will still be taught remotely or hybrid.
Brown University will change its calendar and add a summer period to accommodate more students on campus on different dates, according to a letter to students from the university's president, Christina Paxson. The University will also offer virtual learning courses to all students, regardless of whether they live on campus, and all classes with more than 20 students will be conducted remotely.
Higher education advocates on Tuesday called on Congress to approve federal aid to help colleges and universities avoid budget cuts in the upcoming academic year.
“Higher education is a public good that benefits the entirety of our nation and our nation's position in a global economy. Therefore, the federal investment in higher education is really an investment in the economic security, homeland security and viability of the United States, ”said the president of the American Association for Educational Research, Shaun Harper.
CNN's Keith Allen, Raja Razek, Nicole Chavez, Elizabeth Hartfield and Shelby Lin Erdman contributed to this report.
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