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Arizona, North Carolina, California Break Daily COVID Case Records

State leaders have pointed to increased testing capacity, but public-health experts note many have seen increases in hospitalizations and in the percent of positive test results.

Several states this week broke previous COVID-19 daily case count records, including Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Florida, and California. Though some state leaders have tried to brush off their rising numbers as a result of increased testing capacity, public-health experts note that many of those states, including Arizona, have seen increases in hospitalizations and in the percent of positive test results—evidence that seems to refute that theory. At least 19 states had increasing case rates on Friday, according to an analysis from CNN, and several of them have seen record or near-record highs this week. Arizona had the biggest upward trend in daily case counts in the country on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. As of Friday, more than 113,800 people have died from the virus in the United States.