Coronavirus: US sets another record for daily infections

New cases top 50,000, with 40 states reporting increases

A sales manager at a health club disinfects exercise equipment as the full service facility remains open even as Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has issued an executive order for all gyms to close due to the surge in cases. AP PhotoShow less

For the third consecutive day, the US set a record for number of new coronavirus cases.

The new infections reported on Wednesday topped 50,000, with 40 states reporting increases, taking the US total to more than 2.7 million, with almost 129,000 deaths.

Severe outbreaks have emerged in Arizona, Texas, Florida and California.

In 20 states, more than 5 per cent of the tests conducted returned positive results.

A reluctance to wear masks, backed by US President Donald Trump, and flouting of social-distance rules is partly blamed for the new outbreak ravaging the southern and western states.

Executive orders have been announced in several states, including Texas and Kansas, to mandate face coverings in public.

“In the past few weeks, there has been a swift and substantial spike in coronavirus cases,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.

Florida reported more than 10,000 new cases for the first time on Thursday, six times higher than the daily count from less than a month ago.

The state also reported 67 deaths for the second time in a week and 325 patients admitted to hospital, one of the biggest 24-hour jumps in Florida yet.

“I’m discouraged because we didn’t act fast enough to shut things down and we could have done a much better job getting a handle on the virus,” said Megan Archer, 39.

Ms Archer, from West Palm, lost her job with a county parks department during the outbreak.

By the end of the month, potential Covid-19 vaccines will enter late-stage clinical studies, with others starting in August, September and October, the US government's top infectious diseases expert said on Thursday.

Moderna, the company at the forefront of the country's vaccine development attempts, said earlier in the day that a late-stage trial with 30,000 volunteers would begin this month.

"We may be able to at least know whether we are dealing with a safe and effective vaccine by the early winter, late winter or the beginning of 2021," Dr Anthony Fauci told Jama Network.

Meanwhile, US unemployment fell to 11 per cent in June as the economy added 4.8 million jobs, the government reported on Thursday.

But any recovery of the job market may already be faltering because of new closures and layoffs triggered by the resurgence of the coronavirus.

While the jobless rate was down from 13.3 per cent in May, it is still at a Depression-era level.

And the data was gathered during the second week of June, just before states began to reverse or suspend reopening their economies.

"This is a bit of a dated snapshot at this point,” said Jesse Edgerton, an economist at JPMorgan Chase.

Nikolai Petrovsky, research director at Vaxine, an Australian biotechnology company, holds a syringe with a vaccine specimen at the Flinders University lab, in Adelaide, Australia. The first potential coronavirus vaccine developed in the southern hemisphere is set to begin human trials in Adelaide. EPA

A health worker checks a patient with symptoms related to Covid-19 at the coronavirus unit of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Guatemala City. AP Photo

A police officer directs traffic at a roadblock in suburban Melbourne, Australia. Thousands of residents in dozens of suburbs of Melbourne are preparing to lock down for a month with the Victoria state premier warning a state-wide shutdown is possible if coronavirus cases continue to rise. AAP Image via AP

A customer orders from a taco truck in Los Angeles, California. California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered indoor dining restaurants to close again in Los Angeles County and 18 other counties for at least three weeks amid a surge in new coronavirus cases. Restaurants and food trucks may remain open for takeout and drive-through orders. AFP

Concert-goers hold up a Canadian Flag during a singing of the Canadian national anthem during a drive-in Dean Brody concert to celebrate Canada Day in Markham, Canada. While most events marking the 153rd anniversary of Confederation across the country have been cancelled or moved online due to the spread of the coronavirus, the drive-in concert skirted social gathering rules by allowing attendees to socially distance in and on their cars. AFP

People who want to leave the island, but cannot due to coronavirus disease-related travel restrictions, take part in a "fake" travel experience for tourists simulating the experience of using an international airport at Songshan airport in Taipei, Taiwan. Reuters

A passenger wearing a protective suit and mask collects her luggage after arriving on a flight from Melbourne at Sydney Airport, Australia. EPA

Students wearing face masks talk in the Attarkiah Islamic School in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat as schools across Thailand reopened after being temporarily closed to concerns about the novel coronavirus. AFP

People wearing protective face masks walk past candidate posters for the upcoming Tokyo governor election during the spread of the coronavirus disease in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters

People wearing masks to curb the spread of the new coronavirus wait for businesses to open in downtown Lima, Peru. AP Photo

South Korean army soldiers spray disinfectant to help reduce the spread of the new coronavirus in a class at Cheondong elementary school in Daejeon, South Korea. Yonhap via AP

Rudy Giuliani, personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump, wears a protective mask following a television interview outside the White House in Washington DC, USA. Bloomberg

The 9 de Julio Boulevard is seen almost devoid of traffic during the return to a strict lockdown to curb the spread of ovid-19 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. AP Photo