As US reopens, cases hit new high

Washington: The United States reported more than 39,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its highest-ever single-day count as the government relaxed restrictions and is downplaying the threat of the deadly virus.

The counties home to Dallas, Phoenix, and Tampa all reported record-high averages on at least 15 straight days in June.

The hardest-hit states are California, Texas, Florida and those that thought they had the virus under control, like Utah and Oregon.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said the fact that people are still dying in the US today shows that the country is "not even close" to doing enough to fight the pandemic.

He also expressed disappointment with what he called a lack of US leadership to tackle this virus globally, which has led to developing countries -- such as Brazil and India -- bearing the brunt of this disease.

Gates also dismissed the White House's claim that an increase in case numbers is a direct result of an increase in testing, calling it "completely false."

"It's fair to say, you can find more cases when you do more testing, but the US is experiencing a rebound, even once you factor out the increased testing," Gates said during CNN's coronavirus town hall.

Local officials, he said, have "gotten their act together on testing."

Gates said testing capacity will continue to increase in the fall, and "that's good news." "But that's not the reason we're seeing these case increases," he said. "If you take the New York or the New York area out, in fact we're still very much in the thick of things."