Austin ,Texas , has extended itscoronavirus stay at home orders after seeing a spike in cases and hospitalizations.- More than two dozen states have seen spikes in cases, but many have chosen to move forward with their reopenings.
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Arizona , experts said the state's reopening prompted the spike in cases. The state is now an emerging hotspot. - Public health experts have warned that states may need to reimpose lockdowns if cases continue to climb.
After a spike in cases, authorities in Austin, Texas, announced the city would extend stay-at-home orders for another two months.
The city is now in Stage 4 risk, which is the second-highest and will remain under the orders until August 15, Mayor Steve Adler announced.
"Wear a mask when you go outside & don't go places where people aren't wearing masks. New orders encourage businesses to require social distancing & face coverings while in Stage 4," Adler said in a tweet.
The decision came after the city recorded a seven-day average of more than 20 hospitalizations a day, Spectrum News reported.
Prior to the decision, Adler told local ABC affiliate KVUE that authorities "have some decisions to make and trade-offs to consider as we approach the red zone."
"Make no mistake, we will be seeing more hospitalizations and deaths," Adler told the outlet. "We need the governor's help enforcing masks and social distancing if we are to keep reopening the economy without overwhelming hospitals."
Despite the guidelines in Austin, the state of Texas is continuing to reopen even as overall case totals continue to climb, Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday.
According to The Washington Post, as of Friday, the state has recorded its third day in a row of record high hospitalizations. More than 2,100 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday.
Cases are rising in other cities and states but they're not locking down
Other cities and states across the country are also seeing a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, but not all are shutting down. According to NPR, public health experts agreed that in Arizona, the rush to reopen is responsible for the spike in cases there.
Arizona is an emerging coronavirus hotspot, with over 4,400 new cases from Friday through Sunday, Business Insider previously reported.
The state lifted its lockdown on May 15, and two weeks afterward cases began to increase. NPR reported that the weekly average of daily cases nearly tripled from two weeks ago.
Prior to the lockdown being lifted the state had about 5% of its COVID-19 tests come back positive. Earlier this month, that rate was 12%.
"It's spreading like wildfire," Rep. Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat, said on social media Sunday. "Arizona is the new national hotspot for COVID-19 with more than 4,400 new cases in just the last 72 hours. Per capita, Arizona's infection rate is now more than three times higher than New York state."
Gov. Doug Ducey dismissed worries that the state's healthcare system could be overwhelmed after the state's largest hospital system warned of shortages.
"The entire time we've been focused on a possible worst-case scenario with surge capacity for hospital beds, ICU beds, and ventilators," Ducey told reporters Thursday. "Those are not needed or necessary right now.
However, experts said the state could see a strain on its a healthcare system with increased hospitalizations.
"Arizona's COVID-19 hospitalizations are rapidly increasing," Banner Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel told NPR. "As of June 4, there were 1,234 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. About 50% of those patients are hospitalized in Banner Health facilities."
In Austin, Adler said while the state's hospitals are not at capacity, the new orders are meant to make sure they're not overburdened.
Arizona is not the only state seeing a spike in cases. According to Business Insider, twenty-five states and Puerto Rico have seen a 10% increase in infections over the past two weeks.
Business Insider also reported that states like Utah and Oregon have also announced plans to address their increasing number of cases. Utah will pause all reopening plans until June 26 and Oregon will impose a week-long pause on further reopening.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last week that strict social distancing measures and store closures could come back if coronavirus cases in the US "dramatically" increase.
"Right now, communities are experiencing different levels of transmission occurring, as they gradually ease up onto the community mitigation efforts and gradually reopen," CDC deputy director for infectious diseases Jay Butler said during a press briefing Friday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading US expert on infectious disease, also warned states to reconsider their reopening plans if they see spikes in cases, CNN reported.
"When you start seeing more hospitalizations, that's a surefire sign that you're in a situation where you're going in the wrong direction," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Friday.
"If you leapfrog over different phases, you increase the risk that you're going to have the kind of resurgences that we're seeing in certain of the states," Fauci said.