For the past two months in the global COVID-19 pandemic, the United States remained the hardest-hit country in the world as cases continue to rise steadily and over 120,000 people have died.
Bill Gates Talks Lack of Coordination in Crisis Handling
Other experts and even business moguls have spoken up about how the U.S. has been going about with the pandemic and the latest in the circle who expressed concerns about the issue is Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
In an interview on Thursday, Gates noted that the "US in particular hasn't had the leadership messages or coordination that you would have expected."
Gates further explained that the rising number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the country may be due to inadequate testing and also a lack of contact tracing. He added that many people are still not wearing masks as recommended by health authorities.
According to Gates, the White House's claims that the spiking number of confirmed cases and fatalities in the U.S. is due to more widespread testing, are "completely false."
Finally, Gates said he is hoping the government's leaders will choose to "step up" in the local and global fight against the novel coronavirus. The tech boss also revealed that he has been communicating with the country's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
US Sets New Record-High Daily Cases
On Thursday, the U.S. logged a total of 36,291 new COVID-19 cases, breaking the previous high two days earlier, heightening fears about a second wave not coming anytime soon until the first wave is contained.
News of the new record-high increase in daily cases came as the three most-populated states in the country also set records for new infections a day earlier.
Multiple governors across states have expressed that they will not move to ease on anti-coronavirus restrictions until the numbers in their states drop significantly. States have previously planned for a re-opening before the new record-high was set.
Furthermore, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that so far, it has only counted roughly 10 percent of the country's total COVID-19 infections. If the CDC's estimates are found to be true, it could mean that up to 20 million in the country have contracted the disease.
Texas Backs Out of Supposed Reopening
Amid spiking cases in Texas and a few other states, Governor Greg Abbott announced on Thursday that the state's reopening will be halted in the meantime.
Under a new Executive Order from Abbott, elective surgeries at the following countries will be suspended: Travis, Harris, Bexar, and Dallas. The order came amid 6,200 new confirmed cases in the state on Wednesday.
Texas was among the states that reopened in May in a bid to reawaken the tumbling Texan economy. However, it appears that the reopening did not do well for controlling the disease as after the reopening, new cases increased.
Abbott clarified that pausing economic reopening plans is only temporary and will be done in efforts to stop further spreading of the novel coronavirus.
As of Thursday, the United States has logged a total of 2,504,676 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 126,785 deaths.
