The situation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States is now alarming as health officials reported 45,557 new cases in a single day on Thursday.

The numbers broke the previous record of 36,739 cases reported on April 26, making it the highest daily count reported in the country since the start of the pandemic.

According to a report by CNN, the numbers of coronavirus cases are rising in more than 20 states, with clusters seen in the South and West.

Health experts attributed the surge in cases to Memorial Day, when states began lifting restrictions and businesses began reopening. 

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A number of Southern states - including Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, and South Carolina - also reported its highest single-day totals on Thursday.

In Texas, health officials reported more than 6,200 new cases with its hospitalization rising at the fastest rate.

Hospitals in Houston are also nearing its maximum capacity, prompting its children's hospital to accept adult patients.

In Florida, adult care units only have 21 percent available capacity.

Governor Ron DeSantis did not indicate whether he would re-impose a lockdown despite reporting more than 5,500 new cases.

He attributed the rising numbers to younger people, who have begun socializing in bars and gathering in homes.  

DeSantis urged residents to avoid closed spaces and contact with others.

While the state has increased its testing capacity, experts believed that this was not the reason of the sudden surge in the coronavirus cases.

On Wednesday, Arizona's health department reported 79 new fatalities, a new single-day high.

Officials used death certificates to determine 53 of the new deaths, the KTAR News reported. 

Health officials in Arizona also recorded 1,795 new cases on Wednesday morning, which was nearly half of Tuesday's record of 3,591.

The state now has 59,974 COVID-19 cases and 1,462 deaths.

A spike in COVID-19 cases prompted North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to keep the state in its second phase of reopening in hopes it could curb the spread of the virus.

He also began requiring state residents to wear face masks and observe social distancing when going out in public. 

North Carolina reached its second-highest reported daily hospitalizations on Wednesday with 906 patients currently confined in medical institutions.

The single-day high was reported on Thursday, with 915 people hospitalized.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee also began requiring residents to wear masks in public after a county ran out of hospital beds due to the recent spikes.

While there are exceptions, residents who do not wear face-covering would be charged with a misdemeanor crime, the CBS News reported.

The World Health Organization warned that the country might need to re-impose another general lockdown if states and communities cannot stop the spread of the virus.

Dr. Micheal Ryan, the executive director of the agency's health emergency program, said the virus has yet to reach its peak and that the U.S. is likely to see a sustained number of cases and deaths in the coming weeks, the New York Times reported.