11:40 p.m. ET, November 11, 2020
Utah, Kentucky, and New Mexico set new coronavirus case records
From CNN’s Konstantin Toropin, Jennifer Henderson, Rebekah Riess, and Andy Rose
US states Utah, Kentucky and New Mexico all broke grim records for coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
Kentucky reported its highest daily total of 2,700 new cases, according to a news release from Governor Andy Beshear’s office.
Kentucky’s positivity rate is now 8.12%, which is the highest it’s been since May 5, the release added.
"This entire state is in danger. Covid-19 is absolutely everywhere. We need everybody to wear your masks and follow red zone reduction recommendations and school recommendations. It is a must if you want to lessen the impact in your community,” said Governor Beshear.
Counties have been assigned green, yellow, orange or red zones depending on their rate of infections, with those in red zones required to avoid all non-essential activities outside of the home, including schooling.
New Mexico reported exactly 1,500 new Covid-19 cases Wednesday, a new record for the state. It comes three days after the previous record of 1,418 was set, and brings the total number of cases to 59,034, according to the state Department of Health.
Coronavirus hospitalizations are spiking in New Mexico, with 481 reported Wednesday. That’s an increase of more than 400% in the past two months. The state also reported 14 additional Covid-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic death toll to 1,158.
Utah hit a slightly different record high of 2,583.6 over a 7-day average for Covid-19 cases, and a record test positivity percentage of 22.55%, its data dashboard shows.
Its percentage of positive tests had been climbing since October 11, where it had been holding steady at approximately 14%.
The state has continued to set records since early October when the state started experiencing a resurgence of Covid-19. This weekend, Governor Gary Herbert issued a declaration of a state of emergency and statewide mask mandate.
The Utah Department of Health says the state has had 139,720 Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
West Virginia,
Pennsylvania and
Illinois also reported
record rises in cases today.
Texas became the first US state to
surpass 1 million cases, reporting more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases for a second day in a row.