Corona-Krise: USA überschreiten zwei Millionen Fälle 

Why are the US numbers rising again?

The number of new corona infections has decreased in Europe, but there are contradictory developments in the USA. The explanations are also varied. The president finally wants to appear in front of fans again.

By Sebastian Hesse, ARD Studio Washington

More than two million people infected - the United States crossed another symbolic mark in the Corona crisis. The number of deaths is now over 112,000. A number of states - including Texas, Arizona and California - are reporting an increase in daily case numbers.

This should come as no surprise, commented the doctor and specialist journalist for medical questions, Janette Nesheiwat, on Fox News: "The country is opening up again, we are carrying out more tests," says the doctor. "The more we test, the more cases we can document."

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Here Nesheiwat is very much in line with the White House: President Donald Trump also explains the high number of cases by the fact that the United States tests more than any other country. However, the claim is controversial because the giant country tests the most in absolute terms, but not per capita of the population.

Anthony Fauci, who has been the chief virologist of the USA since the beginning of the Corona crisis, sees yet another reason: "With mass gatherings, such as now in the demonstrations against racism and police violence, the risk of becoming infected always increases," warned Fauci. It has become noticeably calmer for him since Trump stopped his daily corona briefings over a month ago.

Donald Trump in his element: Very soon there will be such events again.

Trump finally wants to appear in front of crowds again
Trump is pushing hard to bring the country back to normal. The President will go on a campaign tour again next week. One will start in Oklahoma, Trump says, "There is a wonderful new arena!" These so-called rallies gather thousands of Trump fans in sports arenas and other larger venues.

Virologists like Amesh Adalja from Johns Hopkins University continue to warn against major events in which many people come together tightly. "The professional sport is at rest, there are no rock concerts - this has a positive effect on the number of cases," says the doctor.

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"These are really big events"
But Trump wants to tour again almost five months before the election: "In Florida, Texas, Arizona, these are really big events," he enthuses. The nomination party conference is also to take place in the second half of August.

Trump is annoyed that the governor of North Carolina, where the coronation fair is scheduled to take place, is concerned about the major event. "Unfortunately, we probably have no choice but to move the party convention to another state," Trump said. North Carolina lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. This has long been the Trump line: The economic damage from the lockdown is considerably greater than the risk of infection.

Criticism of Pence's photo
On Wednesday, there had been criticism for a photo that Vice President Mike Pence had posted on Twitter. The picture shows Pence, who had headed Trump's Corona Task Force, crowded with campaign workers in a narrow space. Nobody wears a mask, not even Pence. The photo has since been deleted.