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6 states set single-day coronavirus case records last week

06 September 2020
Dan Ackermann
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. 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.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly 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.