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Coronavirus cases tick up in 19 states, hold steady nationwide

25 March 2021
Dan Ackermann
Data: CSSE Johns Hopkins University; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

New coronavirus infections rose over the past week in 19 states while holding steady nationwide.

The big picture: The U.S. is in a race to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before variants of COVID-19, fueled by quick reopening, can cause a new wave of rising caseloads.

By the numbers: The U.S. is now averaging about 53,000 new cases per day — essentially unchanged from last week’s average. Cases have been holding steady in this range for several weeks.

  • 19 states saw their average daily cases increase over the past week, and 14 states saw their numbers fall. The biggest improvements were in Arizona and Nevada, both of which saw new cases drop by about 45%.
  • Michigan, on the other hand, took the biggest step backward, with a 50% rise in new cases.

What we’re watching: The U.S. has administered an average of 2.5 million vaccine doses per day over the past week, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

  • Vaccinations are growing a whole lot faster than cases, and will ultimately bring about the end of this pandemic. But it will require non-vaccine interventions — like masks and social distancing — to avoid another wave of rising infections while vaccines continue to roll out.

Each week, Axios tracks the change in new infections in each state. We use a seven-day average to minimize the effects of day-to-day discrepancies in states’ reporting.

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.