6 states set single-day coronavirus case records last week
16 August 2020
Data: Compiled by Axios; Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios
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. Wisconsin and North Dakota surpassed records set the previous week.
Why it matters: Dramatic single-day increases have become less frequent as the country's outbreak begins to slow down. But some states are still facing serious spikes and rising hospitalizations.
Records broken:
- Aug. 8: Wisconsin (1,185)
- Aug. 9: Alabama (2,947)
- Aug. 10: Montana (2,575)
- Aug. 11: None
- Aug. 12: Kentucky (1152)
- Aug. 13: Hawaii (354) and North Dakota (201)
- Aug. 14: None
Zoom in: Wisconsin — which has seen record highs almost every week since Axios began tracking in late June — is at nearly 80% hospital capacity, and hospitalizations are steadily rising.
- In Montana, which has also seen near-continuous weekly spikes, hospitalizations have been on a steep incline since early June.
What to watch: Plans recently submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services show that current coronavirus testing is not enough to meet national demand, Axios' Caitlin Owens and Andrew Witherspoon report.
What they're saying: NIAID director Anthony Fauci told PBS NewsHour on Thursday that he expects the U.S. could "be as good [as] back to normal as we possibly can" by the end of 2021 if a coronavirus vaccine becomes widely available.
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.
Go deeper: Coronavirus cases skyrocketing among communities of color
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.