(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Texas and Florida reversed course and clamped down on bars again Friday in the nation’s biggest retreat yet as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections per day in the U.S. surged to an all-time high of 40,000.
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Texas reported more than 17,000 confirmed new cases in the past three days, with a record high of nearly 6,000 on Thursday.
In Florida, the agency that governs bars acted after the daily number of confirmed cases neared 9,000, almost doubling the previous record, set just two days earlier.
A number of the hardest-hit states, including Texas, Florida, Arizona and Arkansas, have Republican governors who have resisted mask-wearing requirements and largely echoed President Donald Trump’s desire to quickly reopen the economy.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, center, speaks as Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, left, listen during a news conference with members of the Coronavirus task force at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, Friday, June 26, 2020.
