The situation is reversed. As the EU prepares to reopen its external borders on July 1 to a list of countries that have mastered the coronavirus pandemic , a major nation is not among them, according to the New York Times  : The United States . The list, which is not yet finalized and could still evolve, should be published by the end of the week. Last March, Donald Trump had suspended all trips from Europe. But as the pandemic ebbs across the Old Continent, despite the appearance of several new outbreaks , it is getting worse in the United States, especially in southern states like Arizona, where Donald Trump was on an election rally on Tuesday.

The American daily cites two lists of countries whose nationals would be allowed to travel to Europe, and which are the subject of negotiations within the EU. The Americans are currently excluded from the two lists, as is Brazil.

Dr. Fauci “very worried”

In the United States, White House chief immunologist Anthony Fauci said he was “very concerned” about the increase in the number of new daily cases of Covid-19. That figure had dropped to 20,000 a day by the end of May, but has increased by 50% to more than 30,000 this week. If greater access to tests partly explains this trend, deconfinement seems to play a role in the “increase in transmissions”.

The situation is particularly worrisome in Arizona, Texas and Florida, where the number of new cases has tripled in less than a month, and the percentage of positive tests and hospitalizations by two.

Erik Toner, of the John Hopkins Hospital Center for Health Security, says that Memorial Day long weekend rallies in late May are the source of many new clusters. As the national holiday of July 4 approaches, with its fireworks and family barbecues, the situation could worsen. In Arizona, 84% of intensive care beds are already occupied. In Texas, faced with the influx of covid patients, the children’s hospital of Houston now welcomes adults. Under pressure, the governor banned rallies of more than 100 people on Tuesday.

Confusion over a future drop in screenings

In an electoral rally in Arizona facing several thousand students in a closed room on Tuesday, Donald Trump repeated: “The more tests we do, the more cases we have. This weekend, he assured his supporters that he had asked his health officials to slow the pace of testing, which Anthony Fauci denied on Tuesday.

The White House, meanwhile, said he was joking, but the Republican billionaire was clear Tuesday morning, responding, “I’m not kidding. In the process, several American media said that the federal government was going to cut funds to 13 screening centers at the end of the month, half of them in Texas. The war of numbers will continue.