Coronavirus Case Counts Remain High In U.S. Hotspots

As Americans celebrated the nation's 244th birthday Saturday, the new coronavirus didn't take the holiday weekend off as the number of cases and hospitalizations continued to spike across the United States.

For the 27th day in a row, the United States set a record for the average number of daily cases reported nationwide, according to The Washington Post. The daily case count reached 48,606 on Sunday.

As of Sunday evening, there were more than 2.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 130,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, says he'd like to see a national strategy on the coronavirus, including a mask requirement. New Jersey is seeing "small spikes in reinfection" from residents coming back from virus hotspots, and the U.S. is "as strong as our weakest link right now," according to the governor.

A day after Florida set another daily record for new infections — reporting 11,458 confirmed cases on Saturday — the state reached another grim milestone on Sunday. More than 200,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.

State statistics released Sunday for Florida show about 10,000 new cases.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Los Angeles County, California, have increased by 32 percent in the last three weeks. The state of California has reported a record seven-day average of cases for 19 straight days, according to The Washington Post.

Additionally, coronavirus-related hospitalizations reached their highest levels in Arizona and Nevada since the start of the pandemic.

Public health officials pled with Americans to avoid large crowds and hold more subdued celebrations this weekend as many community fireworks displays were canceled over fears that gathered crowds could prompt new outbreaks, The New York Times reported.

City leaders also axed parades and other community celebrations, while also closing bars and beaches.

Health experts agreed this weekend could be a pivotal moment in determining whether the nation slides into a deeper mess.

President Donald Trump chose a less subdued celebration Saturday.

Trump promised a “special evening” in Washington, D.C., one with the potential to bring tens of thousands to the National Mall.

Trump's “Salute for America” celebration is expected to include a speech from the White House South Lawn that he said would celebrate American heritage, as well as a military flyover over the city and an enormous fireworks display.

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Check out The New York Times for live coronavirus updates.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.