Coronavirus cases surge in a dozen states

Data indicate that the country has yet to quash the first wave of the virus — even though many states, especially in the South and Midwest, are moving forward with reopening plans, according to The Washington Post. Florida, Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma are among approximately a dozen states seeing a surge in cases and hospitalizations.

Here are some significant developments:

• Two Oklahoma lawyers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in an effort to block President Trump from holding an indoor campaign rally in Tulsa this weekendon the grounds that the gathering could become a “super-spreader event” at a time when cases are rising in the city.
• Days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) waved off concerns about a growing coronavirus outbreak, the state Tuesday tallied its highest single-day count of new cases at 2,783, according to data tracked by The Washington Post.
• British researchers say dexamethasone, an inexpensive, widely available steroid is the first to reduce death rates among people with severe cases of covid-19.
• Scientists who simulated toilet water and air flows say that aerosol droplets forced upward by a flush appear to spread wide enough and linger long enough to be inhaled. Coronavirus particles have been found in patients’ feces.
• Children and teenagers are only half as likely to get infected with the coronavirus as people 20 and older, and they usually don’t develop clinical symptoms of the disease caused by the virus, according to a study published Tuesday.
• Brazil has so far registered more than 888,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 44,000 deaths, second on both counts only to the United States. But while other countries prepare for a possible second wave, Brazil can’t even get past its first.