10 things you need to know today: July 24, 2020

The U.S. hits 4 million confirmed COVID cases, Trump cancels Jacksonville convention events due to Florida's virus spike, and more

Trump at a coronavirus briefing
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

1. U.S. hits 4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic reached another grim milestone in the United States on Thursday, as the total number of confirmed cases surpassed four million. More than 144,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. A second surge in cases across the South and West prompted many states to halt or reverse the reopening of their economies. Public health experts said the spike could have been caused by the premature easing of lockdowns imposed in March. Confirmed case counts are trending upward in 39 states. The country has confirmed more than one million new cases in the last 15 days as the infection rate doubled in less than a month. The U.S. passed 2 million confirmed cases on June 10, and 3 million cases on July 7.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.