New Coronavirus Hot Spots Emerge Across South and in California

As explained in this article by Kaiser Health News, mass protests against police violence across the U.S. have public health officials concerned about an accelerated spread of the coronavirus. But even before the protests began May 26, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, several states had been recording big jumps in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The U.S. is still seeing roughly 20,000 new cases a day. The tally ranges widely by state, from one case a day last week in Hawaii, up to 2,614 new cases a day in California. Specific areas in the Golden State have become hot spots, along with certain counties in every Southern state.

While cases in California and the Southern states are rising, (mostly due to the reopening of businesses), the northeastern states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, which accounted for a quarter of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are seeing a substantial decline of new cases.