COVID-19 Update

Surprise surprise, >50,000 new cases yesterday - just like everybody said there would be. Well, everybody except the hardcore knuckleheads who still insist the whole thing is just media hype.

And we're back on track to top over 150,000 dead Americans before August 1st.

WaPo:

Daily number of new coronavirus cases in U.S. tops 50,000 for first time

The United States reported 52,789 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the largest single-day total since the start of the pandemic. President Trump speculated in a Fox Business interview that the virus was “going to sort of just disappear” at some point.

Experts say that is unlikely, unless an overwhelming majority of people are infected and develop immunity, which could lead to millions of deaths, or through the successful development and deployment of a vaccine. There is a good chance the coronavirus will never go away, some experts have warned.

Across the country, states are casting aside plans for a gradual return to normalcy, with California, Michigan and New York City the latest to rethink some aspects of reopening.

More than 800,000 new coronavirus cases were detected in the United States in June, many of them in Sun Belt states that were quick to reopen. At least 125,602 deaths have been reported since the start of the pandemic.

Here are some significant developments:

• California, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia all broke their previous single-day records for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, while Louisiana’s infection rates continued to rise.
• Trump on Wednesday said he was “all for masks” and would wear one if he were in “in a tight situation with people.” Later in the day, he mocked presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for covering up at campaign events where “the audience is 25, 30, 40 feet away.”
• A ballot initiative that would expand Medicaid in Oklahoma passed by a narrow margin, allowing nearly 50,000 people who lost their health insurance amid the pandemic to become eligible for the safety-net program.
• Arizona reported a record number of coronavirus-related deaths Wednesday as intensive care units approached 90 percent capacity. Vice President Pence, who visited the state on Wednesday, said the federal government would send in 500 additional medical workers to help combat the surge.
• Vanilla Ice, the ’90s rapper who last made headlines when his pet wallaroo went missing in Florida, plans to hold a weekend concert for up to 2,500 people in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend.
• The World Health Organization has warned that the Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes the Middle East, is at a “critical threshold,” as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases there continues to rise.