California & Texas Reported the Largest Single-Day Surge in COVID-19 Cases

With California tallying 18,350 and Texas nearly 16,000, the two largest states of the U.S. broke the nationwide record for most new COVID-19 infections reported in a single day on Wednesday. According to The Washington Post, the numbers are about 3,000 and 1,000 more cases than California and Texas had previously reported, respectively.

Currently, both the states in the U.S. are the only ones to exceed 1 million COVID-19 cases. According to the Post, almost 2,300 deaths were reported in the country, making Wednesday the deadliest day in the U.S. since May.

Last week California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a month-long curfew. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) warned, “At this rate, our hospitals won’t have any spare beds by Christmas time,” in response to the rapidly rising cases.

Despite the rise in the number, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that he would not be ordering any further lockdowns.

“We are not going to have any more lockdowns in the state of Texas,” Abbott said in a radio interview. “Our focal point is gonna be working to heal those who have COVID, get them out of hospitals quickly, make sure they get back to their normal lives.”

The rapidly increasing numbers were reported just before Thanksgiving, and the experts have warned that it could become a nationwide superspreader event if people don’t abide by the COVID-19 guidelines.