- Title: Arizonans test the waters amid coronavirus outbreak
- Date: 28th June 2020
- Summary: MESA, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2020) (REUTERS) BACK SHOT OF CROWDS OF PEOPLE CARRYING INNER TUBES AND COOLERS AS THEY HEAD TOWARDS THE SALT RIVER PEOPLE CARRYING INNER TUBES HEADING TOWARDS WATER PEOPLE PREPARING INNER TUBES FOR WATER CROWDS OF PEOPLE PREPARING THEIR INNER TUBES FOR WATER SIDE SHOT OF PEOPLE PREPARING INNER TUBES FOR WATER PEOPLE CARRYING INNER TUBES AND INFLATED BOAT INTO WATER VARIOUS PEOPLE WITH INFLATED BOATS AND TUBES CROWDS OF PEOPLE PREPARING BOATS FOR WATER
- Embargoed: 12th July 2020 19:14
- Keywords: Arizona coronavirus tubing
- Location: SALT RIVER, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES
- City: SALT RIVER, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001CKAABT3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hot and sunny weather in Arizona led to crowds tubing on at least one river this weekend as that state and a dozen others face the worst surge in coronavirus cases since the pandemic started.
Temperatures were expected to reach over 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) on Sunday (June 28) along the Salt River east of Phoenix. On Saturday (June 27), dozens of people climbed into inflatable inner tubes with coolers and took to the water to escape the 110 Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) heat. Very few wore masks.
Texas shuttered tubing and rafting business on Friday and some beaches in Florida are closing again ahead of next weekend's Fourth of July holiday to try to curb the rising outbreak in those states.
The surge in COVID-19 cases has been most pronounced in a handful of Southern and Western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively, despite warnings by health officials to wait to see a steady decline in cases.
For a third consecutive day on Saturday, the number of confirmed U.S. cases rose by more than 40,000, one of the largest surges in the world. In Arizona, cases have risen by 267% so far in June and jumped by a record 3,857 cases on Sunday, the eighth record-breaking increase this month.
Even in states where cases have been declining for weeks, outbreaks are happening. One bar in East Lansing, Michigan has been linked to more than 76 cases, according to the Ingham County Health Department. That number is likely to rise, officials cautioned.
Global coronavirus cases exceeded 10 million on Sunday according to a Reuters tally, marking a major milestone in the spread of the respiratory disease that has so far killed almost half a million people in seven months.
(Production: Cheney Orr and Njuwa Maina) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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