The rising number of COVID-19 cases in states across the country is due in large part to more young people contracting the virus, raising alarms among public health officials.
The spikes suggest young adults are both more likely to hold front-line service jobs that put them at risk and more likely to ignore some of the social distancing practices advised by health experts.
The most troubling hot spots are now concentrated in Sun Belt states such as Arizona, California, Florida, North Carolina and Texas. All five of those states have reported more than 1,000 new cases per day this week, making them the only five states to break the four-digit barrier during that period.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said the majority of new cases in his state are coming from residents who are under 30 years old. He said many of the cases are tied to “bar-type settings” where people have been congregating since Memorial Day weekend.
“What we’re seeing there is that people of that age group, they’re not following these appropriate best health and safety practices,” Abbott said in an interview this week with KLBK, a McAllen television station. “They’re not wearing face masks. They’re not sanitizing their hands. They’re not maintaining the safe distancing practices. And as a result, they are contracting COVID-19 at a record pace in the state of Texas.”
In California, 44 percent of recent coronavirus cases occurred in those under the age of 35, according to a study by George Lemp, director of the University of California’s HIV/AIDS Research Program.
California officials said they have seen an increasing number of younger people contracting the virus but that it was likely a function of a rising number of diagnostic tests administered to those who show few if any symptoms.
“In the first months of the outbreak, when testing was more limited, we were largely testing individuals who were most vulnerable, including those who were hospitalized or had arrived at an emergency room with severe symptoms as well as high-risk individuals with symptoms in congregate facilities where an outbreak might have been occurring,” said Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for the state health department.
“We have significantly expanded the availability of testing to cover a broader set of communit