According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, the number of global cases skyrocketed to 12,507,849, up sharply by 239,219 in the past day. On most days over the past week, the number of confirmed cases added has been over 150,000.

Evidence is emerging that the disease could spread in a way that would make it more difficult to control. A number of scientists claim that it can be airborne for hours. Dr. Benedetta Alleganzi, World Health Organization Technical Lead for Infection Prevention and Control, said:

We acknowledge that there is emerging evidence in this field, as in all other fields regarding the Covid-19 virus and pandemic and therefore we believe that we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications regarding the modes of transmission and also regarding the precautions that need to be taken.

The focus of the spread moved away from Europe two months ago. As little as a month ago, it appeared that the United States would drop off the list of nations with rapidly rising confirmed cases. The large hotspots had moved to Russia, India, Brazil, Peru and Chile, where total confirmed cases soared.

Brazil has been affected the most among these countries. Confirmed cases in the South American nation rose by 45,235 to 1,804,338. The daily increase is nearly as high as that in the United States, and Brazil is by far the next hardest-hit country. COVID-19 deaths there have reached 70,524, after rising 1,270. That is a larger increase than the one in the United States, where deaths rose by 859 to 135,953. Some experts believe that the confirmed case and death counts in Brazil will top those of the United States, though the new U.S. surge has made that much less likely.

The U.S. total confirmed case count has added as much as any other nation to the large global surge, and America has become a major hotspot again. The American jump in confirmed case count has become much worse during the past several days, as the disease moved from the badly battered Northeast and Michigan and Illinois to states in the south and west. U.S. confirmed cases rose by 73,161, the most since the start of the pandemic.

Active cases worldwide are up to 5,056,475, and they are 40% of the total of global confirmed cases. The recovered case count is 6,890,914. The positive spread between the numbers of recovered cases and active cases worldwide has shown improvement. It has risen above 1.8 million, one of the few good signs as the pandemic’s spread continues.

Global fatal cases hit 560,460, or 5,536 higher. At the current pace, the figure still could pass 600,000 by late July.

As noted, the acceleration of the spread of the disease worldwide largely is because of an explosion of confirmed cases in America. The increase in confirmed cases here has been by more than 50,000 most days in the past week. Today, confirmed cases in America were total 3,238,219, after adding the previously mentioned 73,161. Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that the increase could soon top 100,000 per day, and this week he confirmed his belief that surges in some states mean the figure, indeed, will continue to rise.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) commented that the actual U.S. case figure may be above 20 million and many of these people have no symptoms. The official U.S. confirmed case count is 26% of the world’s total.

Several large states are responsible for the U.S. swell in confirmed cases, including the three largest by population: California, Texas and Florida. These three states have about 26% of the total U.S. population. Increases are not isolated to these states though. The numbers of confirmed cases are also rising quickly in Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and South Carolina.

The worry is that the very widespread number of new cases geographically could trigger another sharp rise in states hit early, including New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts and Illinois. Indeed, confirmed cases in Illinois have reached 151,767, a one-day boost of 1,317. Fatal cases in the Midwestern state rose by 25 to 7,144. That is a quickening compared to most days in the past three weeks.

Active U.S. COVID-19 cases numbered 2,138,854, and recovered cases have reached 963,412, after adding 12,359. It remains a bad sign that the active case count is so much higher than recovered ones.

As mentioned above, American coronavirus fatalities have hit 135,953, up by 859. They are on pace to top 140,000 by the end of July.

One theory suggests that American deaths will increase in the coming weeks as confirmed cases have risen sharply, and at record rates in some states. There can be a lag of as much as two weeks between when a person becomes infected and when serious symptoms arise. Moreover, the number of asymptomatic cases in America may be well into the millions. That means much of the spread is hard to track. In fact, Florida posted a record 120 deaths two days ago.

People with new confirmed cases are an average of 15 years younger than several months ago. This largely is because of the ages of people infected in the south recently. Younger people are less likely to die from the disease than those over 65.

A Surge in the Phoenix Area

While Arizona has been hit hard, the area around Phoenix has been terribly damaged. Confirmed cases in Arizona are up to 116,892, an increase of 4,221. Fatal cases are up 44 to 2,082.

Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, is the fourth largest county in America based on population, which is 4,087,191. The county has 73,165 confirmed cases and 1,012 deaths. Both are much higher than just a week ago. The medical examiner’s office in Phoenix said it was operating at 96% of its capacity as deaths rose.

India’s Figures Rise Sharply

India is the third hardest hit nation in the world, with confirmed cases reaching 823,923, which is 25,782 more in just a day. Its COVID-19 death count is at 22,153, an increase of 499. That puts the deaths per day number at over half that in the United States.

Experts say that India’s numbers are sharply undercounted because of crowded, impoverished sections of its large cities and the inability to measure figures in rural areas.

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