Washington, July 27 (RHC)-- Coronavirus cases continue to surge in much of the United States, where the number of confirmed infections has topped 4.2 million, with nearly 147,000 reported deaths. 

Florida has surpassed New York to become the state with the second-highest number of infections after California.  The White House Coronavirus Task Force’s Dr. Deborah Birx called Florida, Texas and California “three New Yorks.”

In California, healthcare providers say they are again dealing with shortages in testing, which is hitting low-income and immigrant communities the hardest.

In Texas, doctors at a rural hospital in Starr County have received critical care guidelines to help them decide which COVID-19 patients the hospital can treat and those whom they send home because they are more likely to die.  Southern Texas is now also reeling from Hurricane Hanna, which battered the region Sunday, causing flash flooding and knocking out power lines. Hurricane Hanna also caused major damage in parts of Mexico.