A member of Orange County Fire Rescue passes out personal protective equipment (PPE) items including disposable face masks, reusable masks and hand sanitizer to small businesses Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. Orange County hopes to supply up to 10,000 businesses with the items over the next several days. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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HOUSTON (AP) - Coronavirus hospitalizations and caseloads hit new highs in over a half-dozen states as signs of the virus' resurgence mounted, with newly confirmed infections nationwide back near their peak level of two months ago.
After trending downward for six weeks, the U.S. caseload has been growing again for over a week, particularly in the South and West. Some 34,700 new cases were reported nationwide Tuesday, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The number was higher than any other day except April 9 and the record-setting date of April 24, when 36,400 cases were logged.
While new cases have been declining steadily in early U.S. hot spots such as New York and New Jersey, several other states set single-day case records Tuesday, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas. Some of them also broke hospitalization records, as did North Carolina and South Carolina.
'œThe question of how we're doing as a nation is: We're not doing so well. How are we doing as a state? Not doing so well,'ť said Dr. Jeffrey Smith, the county executive in Santa Clara County, California, home to Silicon Valley. Nearly 5,600 people have died of the virus in California, the most populous state.
Cases are also surging in some other parts of the world. India reported a record daily increase of nearly 16,000 new cases. Mexico, where testing rates have been low, also set a record with more than 6,200 new cases.
But China appears to have tamed a new outbreak in Beijing, once again demonstrating its ability to quickly mobilize its vast resources by testing nearly 2.5 million people in 11 days.
In the U.S., the nation's top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told Congress that the next few weeks are critical to tamping down the surge and that people should avoid crowds or at least wear masks in them.
Hours later, President Donald Trump rallied hundreds of young conservatives in a megachurch in Arizona as the state reported a record 3,600 new infections.
Ahead of the event, the Democratic mayor of Phoenix, Kate Gallego, made clear that she did not believe the speech could be safely held in her city, and she urged the president to wear a face mask. He did not. Trump has refused to wear a mask in public, turning it into a conservative-vs.-liberal issue.
In China, an outbreak that has infected more than 200 people in the capital this month appeared to be waning. China on Wednesday reported 12 cases, down from 22 the day before. Beijing reported seven new cases, down from 13.
Officials in Beijing said they tested more than 2.4 million people between June 12 and June 22. That's more than 10% of the capital's population of about 20 million.
Authorities began testing people in and around food markets, then expanded the initiative to restaurant staff and the city's 100,000 delivery workers. China also said it used data to find people who had been near markets for testing. It did not elaborate.
South Korea, which tamed its first wave of infections, is seeing another rise - this time in the Seoul region, where most South Koreans live. Authorities reported 51 cases Wednesday. The country has reported 40 to 50 new cases a day over the past two weeks.
In India, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, the capital city of New Delhi is a rising concern, with the government criticizing its poor contact tracing and a lack of hospital beds. India has reported more than 450,000 cases of the virus, including more than 14,000 deaths.
Mexico reported nearly 800 new deaths on Wednesday. The country has recorded more than 190,000 cases and over 23,000 deaths, though officials acknowledge both are undercounts because of extremely low testing rates. Mexico has performed about half a million tests, or one for every 250 inhabitants.
In Europe, countries are both easing and increasing restrictions as the outbreaks evolve. Slovenia reintroduced mandatory use of face masks in public transportation and other enclosed public spaces after cases spiked in recent days, while Belgium said theaters and swimming pools could reopen next month. Infections there have nosedived over the past two months.
In Africa, African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief John Nkengasong said the outbreak is 'œpicking up speed very quickly,'ť with a steep increase in cases and deaths as more countries loosen lockdowns. Africa has seen nearly 325,000 cases and over 8,600 deaths.
Worldwide, more than 9.2 million people have been confirmed infected, and close to a half-million have died, by Johns Hopkins' count.
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Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand, Moritsugu from Beijing. Associated Press reporters around the world contributed.
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
Students wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing at a classroom during the first day of school reopening at a high school in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Malaysia began reopening schools Wednesday while entering the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) after three months of coronavirus restrictions. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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Lt. John Cabarga, of Orange County Fire Rescue prepares to move personal protective equipment (PPE) items including disposable face masks, reusable masks and hand sanitizer that will be handed out to small businesses Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Orange County hopes to supply up to 10,000 businesses with the items over the next several days. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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Recovered coronavirus patient Lucia Pina waits with her belongings to be discharged from a COVID-19 hospital at Military Camp 1 in Naucalpan, in Mexico City metropolitan area, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. On the grounds of the military base, a barracks has been converted into a hospital treating recovering and moderately ill COVID-19 patients who come from both the military and civilian populations.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci takes off his face mask before testifying before a House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)
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Funeral home worker Osvaldo Garcia, from Venezuela, cleans the area where used empty coffins of victims of COVID-19 are stacked after being cremated, at El Angel cemetery, in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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From left, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Adm. Brett Giroir, head of the U.S. Public Health Service, listen as Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn testifies before a House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)
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People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus walk through a shopping and office complex in Beijing, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. New virus cases have declined in China and in the capital Beijing, where a two-week spike appears to be firmly waning. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Worker Carlos Acuña Rios starts to collect the ashes of a COVID-19 victim from an oven after the remains where cremated at the Azcapotzalco crematorium in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (Foto AP/Marco Ugarte)
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Worker Carlos Acuña Rios prepares to fill an urn with the ashes of a COVID-19 victim after the remains where cremated at the Azcapotzalco crematorium in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (Foto AP/Marco Ugarte)
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Porter Fernando Anaya, who begins his workday at 4 a.m., takes a nap as he takes a break from transporting vegetables, in La Parada market in La Victoria district, in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Many businesses reopened Monday in Peru after a mandatory closure that began on March 16 with the start of a quarantine aimed at slowing the advance of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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Auto rickshaw drivers wearing masks as a precaution against COVID-19 await customers near an optical shop in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. India is the fourth hardest-hit country by the coronavirus in the world after the U.S., Russia and Brazil. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
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A man wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus rides an escalator at a shopping and office complex in Beijing, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. New virus cases have declined in China and in the capital Beijing, where a two-week spike appears to be firmly waning. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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A man wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus walks past a propaganda banner encouraging people to sort their garbage in Beijing, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. New virus cases have declined in China and in the capital Beijing, where a two-week spike appears to be firmly waning. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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People walk across a pedestrian crossing at Ginza shopping district in Tokyo Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Tokyo reported more than 50 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, the largest number since early May, but officials say the jump does not mean an immediate return to business restrictions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
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