Oct. 26 (UPI) — After adding almost 170,000 new COVID-19 cases Friday and Saturday — the largest single-day spikes to date — the United States added another 60,800 on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
That brings the total over the last three days to nearly 230,000 cases. The some 83,700 cases reported on both Friday and Saturday surpassed the previous record of 77,000 cases in a single day in July.
New cases over four days add up to about 300,000, according to Johns Hopkins. At the start of the pandemic, it took about three months to reach 300,000 cases in the United States.
There were about 340 new deaths on Sunday, according to the data. Slower reporting on weekends usually result in lower counts on Sundays and Mondays.
There have been more than 480,000 new cases added nationwide over the past seven days, the most the ever added in a single week.
The numbers add up to a total of 8.64 million COVID-19 cases and 225,300 deaths in the United States.
As of Monday afternoon, Texas reported 910,124 cases, narrowly surpassing California’s 909,161 for the highest case total since the start of the pandemic, according to a tally by NBC News.
California has led the nation in case total for several months, but new infections in Texas were rising at a rate of 19% over the past two weeks, compared to a 15% increase in California.
In Wisconsin, officials reported a record number of patients were hospitalized Sunday and there’s a shortage of beds in intensive-care units statewide.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz, who had a record-setting first career start Friday against Illinois, tested positive for the virus. A second test would be done to confirm the diagnosis, officials said. If confirmed, he would have to miss a minimum of 21 days.
In Tennessee, officials reported the second-highest daily increase of cases on Sunday. The record was set Friday.
The NFL has fined the Tennessee Titans $350,000 for violating the league’s coronavirus protocols, NFL.com reported. The team was the first this season to see an outbreak.
In Illinois, officials reported more than 10,000 cases over Saturday and Sunday.
The city of Chicago may face new restrictions on indoor dining after posting a positivity rate of 7.5% over the past week.
Under state rules, three consecutive days of at least 8% requires the additional restrictions, which have been implemented in some areas of suburban Chicago.
Last week, Chicago ordered non-essential businesses to close at 10 p.m., and prohibited bars that don’t serve food from allowing patrons indoors.
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