Fauci Urges States To Pause Reopenings; U.S. Breaks Case Record

A day after the United States surpassed 3 million confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and broke its daily case record yet again, the nation's top infectious disease expert said hard-hit states should pause reopening to contain the recent surge of infections.

In an interview with The Hill, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stopped short of calling for full shutdowns, despite suggesting otherwise in a separate interview Wednesday.

"I would hope we don't have to resort to shutdown," Fauci told The Hill, adding that shutdowns "would not be viewed very favorably."

The United States on Wednesday reported more than 59,400 new infections, according to a New York Times database. It was the fifth national record in nine days.

The previous record of 56,567 cases was reported Friday.

At least five states — Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia — set single-day records for new infections on Wednesday, the Times reported.

Fauci suggested that hard-hit states should take steps such as closing bars and avoiding large gatherings. He pointed to California, Arizona, Texas and Florida as accounting for 50 percent of new infections.

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, nearly 68,000 more cases have been confirmed in the United States since the country surpassed the 3 million milestone Wednesday. To date, nearly 132,500 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19-related illnesses.

President Donald Trump continues to downplay the worsening outbreak, tweeting on Thursday that new cases are simply the result of more testing. However, experts are widely saying that is not true.

In the face of a recent surge in cases, the United States is grappling with how to navigate the reopening of state economies and whether schools should reopen this fall.

Trump on Wednesday threatened to withhold federal funding if schools don't reopen in the fall. Trump also lashed out at federal health officials over school reopening guidelines that he says are impractical and expensive.

Taking to Twitter to voice his frustration, Trump argued that countries including Germany, Denmark and Norway have reopened schools "with no problems."

Germany has just over 199,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, while Demark has 13,100 and Norway has just under 9,000 cases.

Trump also repeated his claim that Democrats want to keep schools closed for political reasons and not because of any risks associated with the coronavirus.

The president did not immediately say what funding he would cut off or under what authority.

READ: Trump Threatens Federal Aid Cuts If Schools Don't Reopen

Trump Will Pressure States To Reopen Schools This Fall

In the first five days of July, the United States reported its three largest daily totals, and 14 states recorded single-day highs, The New York Times reported.

As this week began, 37 states had reported an increase in COVID-19 cases compared with the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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