US deaths from Covid-19 rose for a second week in a row to more than 5,200 people in the week ended July 19, up 5% from the previous seven days, a Reuters analysis found.
The country reported over 460,000 new coronavirus cases last week, up nearly 15% from the prior week, according to the analysis of data from The Covid-19 Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak.
Nineteen states have reported increases in deaths for at least two straight weeks, including, Arizona, Florida and Texas.
Testing for Covid-19 rose by 9% in the United States last week and set a new record high on Friday, with over 850,000 tests performed, the Reuters analysis found.
Nationally, 8.5% of tests came back positive for the novel coronavirus, down from 8.8% the prior week but still higher than the 5% level that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.
Thirty-one states had positivity test rates above 5%, according to the analysis, including Arizona at 24%, Florida and Nevada at 19%, and Idaho and Alabama at 18%.
Nationally, new Covid-19 cases have risen for seven straight weeks. Forty-three states reported more new cases of Covid-19 last week compared to the previous week, the analysis found.
For the first time since April, cases rose in New York State week over week, breaking a 13-week streak of declines. New Jersey now leads the nation with cases falling for two weeks in a row. The other six states have only seen cases decline for one week.
