Over the course of the past month, the United States has spread its wings once again to allow its citizens out of quarantine. The government has allowed businesses to start on the path to fully reopen and has pulled back on restrictions. They have also become more lenient about enforcing safety policies put in place to help limit the spread of the virus. Americans have largely been allowed to make their own decisions regarding which policies-if any-they want to abide by.

Was this freedom granted all too soon?

Several states have been experiencing extreme spikes in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations due to the virus. People have been returning to the places they had previously been barred from; salons, restaurants and cafes, non-essential stores, as well as public, high-traffic areas like parks. Many Americans have also joined in on the Black Lives Matter protests going on around the country, many of whom neglected to take adequate precautions against the coronavirus.

COVID-19 cases rising again

Over the course of this pandemic more than 2.5 million Americans have confirmed cases of COVID-19, and of those, more than 128,000 have died. There are roughly 21,100 new cases every day and about 800 people die from it every day. Those daily numbers are much lower than they were during the virus’ peak in April, but due to the reopening of businesses and public areas, the daily cases and deaths are climbing once more. Florida reopened its beaches and people are not following the guidelines that the state provided. People continue not to practice social distancing and so many are visiting the beach and getting sick.

In 22 states, case numbers that had been in decline have started rising. In 6 of those states, namely Florida, Oregon, Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Texas, numbers are reaching records highs for the entire course of the pandemic. Not only are the cases rising in these states, but the hospitalizations related to the virus are sharply on the rise as well. Hospitalizations are reaching record highs, but these states are still unwilling to scale back again to protect the public from themselves.

At this point, it looks like in order to fully recover from this pandemic, the US needs time and the return of safety protocols. It’s the lack of safety precautions and health mandates that are allowing people to endanger both themselves and others to the risk of exposure.