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| Thomas Wells/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal/AP |
The number of newly reported coronavirus cases across the country remained short of highs seen in late July, but a drop in testing in some states could be masking the extent of the virus’s spread.
The fluctuating case counts came as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday, joining a number of other U.S. lawmakers to be infected with the disease since the pandemic began.
Mr. DeWine showed no symptoms of Covid-19 but was tested before he was scheduled to meet President Trump in Cleveland, the governor’s office said in a statement. The Republican governor was returning to Columbus and plans to quarantine at his home for 14 days, his office said.
In March, Mr. DeWine was among the first U.S. state leaders to take steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Similar to many other states, Ohio started seeing an increase in cases shortly after reopening. On Wednesday, the state reported 1,199 new cases and 26 related deaths.
During a virtual press conference from his front porch Thursday afternoon, Mr. DeWine encouraged Ohioans to continue wearing masks and limiting the number of people they are in close proximity with.
“The lesson that should come from this is we’re all human and this virus is everywhere,” the governor said. “This virus is very tough.”
Across the U.S., new cases topped 52,000 Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 4.8 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That represents an increase from earlier in the week, when the number was closer to 45,000, but lower than a week earlier when more than 68,000 cases were reported. The national death toll from the pandemic surpassed 158,000.
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Seven states saw the seven-day average of new confirmed cases rising faster than the two-week average as of Aug. 5, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data. That held true in 38 states a month earlier, so the data reflect declines in reported new cases in a swath of the country.
It is the first time since March that fewer than 10 states had a seven-day moving average that was higher than the 14-day average. Comparing the one- and two-week averages of new cases helps smooth out anomalies in the data, such as lags in reporting.
However, the recent drop in the number of reported cases could be tied in part to a decline in testing. In 30 states, the seven-day average number of tests per 1,000 people was down from a week earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins. For six states—Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington—testing has been trending down for at least two weeks, according to the data. In 13 states, testing was flat.Read the rest from the WSJ HERE and follow links below to related stories and resources:
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