China, the site of the first major outbreak, appeared to have largely brought the virus under control, but on Sunday it reported 57 new confirmed infections, its highest single-day tally in two months.
In the United States, several states are experiencing spikes, particularly in the Sun Belt and the West. Hospitals in Arizona have been urged to activate emergency plans to cope with a flood of patients. Oregon’s governor has paused a gradual reopening. And cases are rising swiftly around the largest cities in Texas, including Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.
“I’m very concerned about it,” said Mayor Eric Johnson of Dallas, noting that many residents had stopped wearing masks and maintaining social distance out of sheer fatigue. “They’ve been asked for quite some time to not be around people they love, and that they want to spend time with. Wearing a mask is not pleasant. And I think people are tired.”
The virus has caused more than 115,000 deaths in the United States, and the toll is rapidly climbing in Latin America — most notably in Brazil, which this weekend surged to the world’s second-highest number of fatalities, with 42,720 confirmed deaths. The country’s daily death toll is now the highest globally.
In the United States, the daily number of new cases is climbing in 22 states, shifting course from what had been downward trajectories in many of those places.
With many government limits on public life being removed and individuals left to make their own choices about precautions, people have gone back to salons and restaurants, crowded into public parks and, in dozens of cities, joined large public demonstrations protesting racism and police brutality.
Epidemiologists said that even taking increased testing into account, the rise in confirmed cases in Sun Belt states suggested more transmissions.
In Florida, which on Saturday saw its largest single-day count of cases since the pandemic began, at least one official has raised the possibility of another clampdown on businesses.
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