A day after Dr. Anthony Fauci told Senators he was worried that daily counts of new Coronavirus cases could skyrocket to 100,000 nationwide, the U.S. registered over 52,000 new virus cases on Wednesday, with continued growth in California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona.
"COVID-19 continues to spread at an alarming rate," said Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of California, whose state reported 9,740 new cases of the virus on Wednesday.
California joined Arizona, Texas, Florida and other states in pulling back on re-opening plans, as new restrictions will be placed on restaurants, movie theaters, museums, and bars.
"Our outbreak is accelerating," said Dr. Caitlin Rivers of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "We need to face this head on."
In mid-June, the U.S. had a 7-day rolling average of 21,500 new virus cases a day. In barely two weeks, that nearly doubled to over 40,000 cases a day.
On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Arizona for meetings with state officials on the outbreak there, as Arizona has not only been reporting more virus cases, but also more deaths.
"You are safer at home," Gov. Doug Ducey (R) bluntly told Arizona residents during a tarmac news conference with the Vice President.
As he did on Sunday in Texas, the Vice President urged Americans to wear a face covering to help slow the spread of the virus.
"Wear a mask when indicated by state or local authorities," Pence said.
Pence announced that the Arizona Governor had asked for 500 medical personnel to help deal with rising hospitalizations for the Coronavirus, as the Vice President also said temporary medical facilities might be provided as well.
Back at the White House, President Trump was not caught up in the worries about the rising case levels, again confidently saying that the United States would be able to survive the best punch from the virus.
"I think at some point, that's just going to sort of disappear, I hope," the President told Fox Business in an interview.
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