02 August 2020
Data: COVID Tracking Project and state health department data compiled by Axios; Map: Danielle Alberti and Naema Ahmed/Axios
Nine states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day, per the COVID Tracking Project and state health departments. Five states surpassed records set the previous week.
Why it matters: This is the lowest number of states to see dramatic single-day increases since Axios began tracking weekly highs in late June.
- July 25: Montana (221).
- July 26: Louisiana (3,840).
- July 27: Oklahoma (1,401).
- July 28: None.
- July 29: Tennessee (4,333).
- July 30: Missouri (2,084), New Mexico (597), Ohio (1,733),
- July 31: Hawaii (124) and North Dakota (168).
Catch up quick: The U.S. is now reporting a seven-day rolling average of about 64,000 new cases per day. 16 states broke their single-day coronavirus infection records last week.
- Missouri has recorded new highs for the last four weeks, and Oklahoma has for the past five weeks.
- Hawaii saw more than 100 cases in a single day for the first time this week.
The big picture: Infections in the U.S. overall are beginning to decline after rising dramatically this summer — but, deaths are beginning to spike.
What they're saying: "We are living, right now, through a historic pandemic outbreak. And, we are, right now, in a situation where we do not see any particular end in sight," NIAID director Anthony Fauci told a panel hosted by the not-for-profit TB Alliance on July 23.
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.