100,000+ New U.S. Coronavirus Cases In First 2 Days Of August

ACROSS AMERICA — The United States is entering a "new phase" in the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force said as the pandemic entered its fifth month. She called the outbreak "extraordinarily widespread" while on CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning.

Birx said the virus is now in rural areas as well, and that some should consider wearing a mask even while at home.

"No matter where you live in America, you near to wear a mask and socially distance," Birx said.

The doctor spoke as the number of new United States coronavirus cases topped 100,000 in less than the first 48 hours of August. Data from the Washington Post showed 106,430 new cases reported on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2 as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

This begins a month following a devastating surge of infections in July. More than 1.9 million new cases were reported, by far the most tallied in a single month, according to an earlier Washington Post report.

The month's infection total reported by states was more than double June's total and represents about 42 percent of the 4.5 million cases the country had logged since the outbreak started. Nationwide, testing increased in July from about 600,000 to 820,000 tests per day.

No state in recent weeks has been hit harder by the virus than Florida, which reported more than 7,000 new cases Sunday even though most testing sites in the state have been closed due to Tropical Storm Isaias.

The state is reporting a 15 percent decline in new cases totals over the past week, the data from the Washington Post shows.

The virus has also continued to hit the sports world hard. A number of Major League Baseball games have already been postponed due to positive coronavirus tests, and this past weekend Eduardo Rodriguez of the Boston Red Sox said he will not pitch at all this season due to a virus-related ailment.

To date, nearly 154,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 4.6 million reported cases.

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