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photo : reuters

New York City entered Phase 2 of reopening on Monday while at least 12 other states saw record COVID-19 spikes - and the World Health Organization reported a record number of new daily cases. In the U.S., New York City - once the epicenter of the global outbreak - officially entered Phase Two of its reopening, the last part of the state to do so. After 100 days in lockdown, many New Yorkers went to salons to get their first haircuts in months, shopped at re-opened retail stores and dined at outdoor cafés. But while new cases in New York and neighboring New Jersey are at record lows - with 1-2 percent of tests coming back positive - a dozen states in the South and Southwest have reported record increases in new cases. They include Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, together home to about one-third of the U.S. population. As quoted from Reuters, Texas Governor. Greg Abbott said Monday (23/06) the state is averaging more than 3,500 new cases a day, with a positivity rate at almost 9 percent.

"COVID-19 is spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas and it must be corralled.” the Governor said. 

He also said he had no plans however to shut the economy down again. Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and South Carolina are also among at least a dozen states that have seen record spikes in COVID-19, many due to transmission among young people. More than 120,000 people have died of the coronavirus in the U.S.//REUTERS/VOI/AHM