Confirmed coronavirus cases are surging across the country, even as 30 states look to reopen and New York's numbers decline

• New York — the epicenter of the US's coronavirus outbreak — is finally seeing a decline in new infections, deaths, and hospitalizations related to the virus.
• But the virus is continuing to surge across the rest of the US, even as 30 states begin or are looking to begin loosening social distancing policies and reopening businesses.
• Most of these 30 states haven't met the Trump administration's national guidelines for reopening, according to a Thursday New York Times report.
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New York — the epicenter of the US's coronavirus outbreak — and its neighbors in Connecticut and New Jersey are finally seeing a decline in new infections, deaths, and hospitalizations.

But the virus is continuing to surge across the rest of the US, even as 30 states begin or are looking to begin loosening social distancing policies and reopening businesses. New hot spots have emerged in the South and Midwest, including inside and in areas around meat processing plants and prisons.

Most of these 30 states haven't met the Trump administration's national guidelines for reopening, according to a Thursday report in The New York Times.

These guidelines include that states should see a "downward trajectory" in cases for two weeks before they begin reopening. Eighteen of the 30 states don't meet that threshold.

If a state doesn't see a general decline in new infections, it could begin reopening if its proportion of positive tests is lower than it was two weeks prior. Nine of the 30 states have seen an increase in their share of positive tests.

Twenty-eight of the 30 states haven't met federally recommended 152 daily tests per 100,000 and in 18 states. And total testing in two states that are looking to reopen — South Dakota and Utah — is actually declining.

Experts say this data indicates there will likely be a dangerous surge in infections across the country as states reopen.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York's numbers, as compared to the rest of the country, indicate that other states should follow his lead in continuing to implement a strict lockdown.

"To me, that vindicates what we're doing here in New York, which says follow the science, follow the data," he said during a Wednesday press conference. "Put the politics aside and the emotion aside. What we're doing here shows results."

Still, New York's outbreak is not under control. The state continues to average about 3,000 new coronavirus cases every day. And new data reveals travel from New York City is to blame for much of the virus' spread across the country.

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