U.S. records highest single-day total of new coronavirus cases

More than 36,000 new COVID-19 infections were reported in the United States on Wednesday, surpassing the previous one-day record of 34,203 cases set on April 25.

Florida and Texas both reported more than 5,000 new cases, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced his state recorded 7,149 new cases. "I want to remind everybody that we are still in the first wave of this pandemic," he told reporters during a virtual press conference. "That said, all throughout the last number of months, we've been preparing — we haven't been waiting, we haven't been describing ourselves as victims of fate." He also shared that California has increased its daily testing, conducting 95,970 tests over the last day.

Health officials are urging people to wear masks, wash their hands, and practice social distancing in order to slow the spread of the virus and not completely undo the gains that were made during state lockdowns. There are more than nine million COVID-19 cases worldwide, with over 2.3 million in the United States. At least 119,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up