UNITED STATES – Last week, in the continental United States, there was a surge of cases and deaths – specifically a 24% rise in cases to roughly 485,000 nation-wide and a 15% rise in the death toll to 5,600 deaths over the course of the past week caused by the novel Coronavirus pandemic. In thirty-six out of the fifty states, there have been continually rising case numbers for the past two weeks.

In the states of Connecticut, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wyoming they have seen near doubling in their death count. In the previous week, there were 7.7 million COVID-19 tests given in the United States and more came back positive than the week before. The World Health Organization said that any rate over 5%, in which the current rate is 6.3%, is concerning because there are still many cases which go undocumented.  

(Compiled from Reuters by Za’Nia Harris, orignal reporting by Reuters Staff)