Several American states have yet to see a significant decline in the country's ongoing bout with the novel coronavirus, as the CDC predicted more infections than the official figures.
CDC Director: More Infections than Officially Accounted for
Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Thursday that there could be up to 60 million Americans infected with COVID-19.
Redfield explained that his statements were based on the infection rate of 10 percent that the CDC report revealed earlier in June. According to Redfield, an infection rate of between 10 to 20 percent could mean up to 60 million total infections.
Redfield further noted that the CDC is following up on the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association to further validate the numbers that the country has accumulated since the pandemic started.
The results of further data collection and validation from the CDC have yet to determine whether the official count of 5,573,501 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the U.S. match the actual figures.
Florida Passes 10,000 Deaths
Florida's Department of Health on Thursday reported another 117 fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the state's death toll to 10,049.
There were also 4,555 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The national infection toll now stands at 588,602. Florida remains the second hardest-hit state in the country, only behind California.
Despite the new data, the state's daily positive rate has slightly declined compared with the previous weeks' records and was significantly less than the state's positive rate that ballooned to nearly 21 percent earlier in July.
California Battles with Fires and COVID-19
The hardest-hit state in the U.S. has been struggling with the coronavirus situation but recent fires and heat waves over the past few days have pushed the state to its limits.
Health experts noted that heavy smoke could further impact air quality, and low air quality could trigger health issues among people with multiple pre-existing heatlh conditions that could put them at further risk of contracting COVID-19.
So far, California has had 367 known fires from around 11,000 lightning strikes, with 26 of them classified as major fires – with the LNU Lightning Complex Fire leading the pack in burning over 124,000 acres.
There are still major wildfires continuing to spread in Northern California. Residents have been forced to leave their homes but they have also raised concerns about their safety from the novel coronavirus while temporarily living in shelters.
As of Thursday, California has logged a total of 653,264 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11,821 deaths.
Texas to Post COVID-19 Data from Public Schools
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Thursday afternoon told public school superintendents that the state will start releasing data on coronavirus cases traced back to schools in the area.
The news came amid increasing fears on the possibility of cluster infections linked to school reopenings. The data will be released weekly, Morath said.
As part of the efforts to hopefully curb the surge of cases linked to schools, the Texas Education Agency and Department of State Health Services will be monitoring cases among students and teachers.
At least 574,633 people have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 in Texas, and there have also been 10,934 deaths in the third hardest-hit state in the country.
