US Coronavirus Deaths Hit 93,521; Maryland, 16 States See Spikes In Cases Days After Reopening

Maryland on Tuesday joined Texas and 15 other states in reporting a spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases after partially reopening some business sectors last week.

The jump in Maryland's confirmed cases to 1,784 on Tuesday is a new record high and came only four days after the state began reopening its economy on May 15, said the Maryland Department of Health (MDH). The Tuesday increase in new cases comes more than two weeks after Maryland's previous high of 1,730 cases.

MDH also said 25% of the 7,152 tests in a 24 hour period ending 10:00 a.m. ET resulted in positive diagnoses. The latest case numbers brought Maryland's total confirmed cases to 41,546 and its deaths from the disease to 2,081, based on Worldometer data. Maryland has the tenth largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. The U.S. reported 93,521 deaths Tuesday, still the largest in the world.

The upside is the total number of people in Maryland hospitalized due to COVID-19 was reduced by 26 to 1,421, said MDH. Of the 1,421 people in hospital, however, 537 are in intensive care units (ICUs).

Despite its limited reopening, Maryland remains under a state of emergency. As of Wednesday, all U.S. states will have either reopened partially or have announced their intent to do so. This early, however, and there are already 17 states reporting increases in COVID-19 infections, said CNN.

Maryland health officials are cautiously linking the sudden jump in case numbers to the state's reopening Friday, which saw retailers, hair salons and churches return to business but at 50% of their maximum occupancy and under the state's "Safer at Home" policy.

Maryland's infection jump mirrors that of Texas, which on May 16 reported 1,801 new confirmed infections, its single-highest rise in cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Gov. Greg Abbott seemed to take the increase in stride, however, and proceeded to reopen more business sectors starting Monday. He said Texas is long way from hitting hospital and ventilator capacity. Abbott declared the state's economy open for business two weeks ago.

Texas has the country's eighth largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at 50,659, as of Tuesday evening. It's also suffered 1,402 deaths.

Health experts agree it might take weeks to begin seeing the harmful effects of more people leaving their homes for travel and leisure. They warn these premature easing of social distancing restrictions could lead to thousands more deaths across the country and another terrifying jump in cases and deaths in the expected "second wave."