Six states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day, according to the COVID Tracking Project and state health departments. Kansas surpassed its record set the previous week.
Why it matters: Dramatic single-day increases have become less frequent after a massive spike this summer. But nationwide, cases are no longer dropping as much as they had been for the previous five weeks.
Records broken:
- Sept. 4: Illinois (5,594) and Wisconsin (1,542). Illinois' dramatic spike coincided with the health department fixing an earlier slowdown in the number of tests reported.
- Sept. 3: None.
- Sept. 2: None.
- Sept. 1: None.
- Aug. 31: Kansas (1,564)
- Aug. 30: None
- Aug. 29: North Carolina (2,585), North Dakota (374), and South Dakota (425)
Zoom in: Kansas has the sixth-highest infection rate in the country, the state's health secretary said on Sept. 2, referencing a weekly White House report. The state reported 23 deaths on Friday, the highest daily toll in three months.
- North Carolina, which had not broken a daily case record since mid-July, recorded 50 deaths on Saturday, the highest in three months. The state allowed gyms and museums to reopen with limited capacity on Friday.
- Wisconsin's health department attributed the size of its Sept. 4 daily case increase to a fixed issue in reporting. New hospitalizations in the state have gradually decreased since rising in mid-August.
What to watch: Caseloads rose in 18 states over the past week, according to a seven-day average tracked by Axios. Testing increased by roughly 5% nationwide.
What they're saying: NIAID director Anthony Fauci, as well as several Democratic and Republican governors, urged Americans to follow basic coronavirus mitigation strategies over Labor Day weekend.
Go deeper: Many Americans still don't have coronavirus testing access
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include COVID Tracking Project (CTP) data, in addition to data taken directly from state health departments. CTP began reporting non-resident cases as part of Alaska's total case count on July 16.