Twenty two states are seeing an increase in new COVID-19 cases as states continue to slowly reopen and George Floyd protests are held across the country – as a top forecast model increased the predicted death toll in the United States to 145,000 fatalities by August.

Arizona has seen infections increase by more than 90 percent in a week, while Arkansas and Utah have gone up more than 60 percent.

Massachusetts, Florida and New Mexico’s cases have increased by more than 40 percent compared to the week prior.

Michigan’s cases soared more than 150 percent last week due to the state including nearly 5,000 probable infections.

The increases comes after all 50 states at least partially lifted coronavirus lockdown measures last month.

Infectious disease experts have also warned that large protests held in major US cities after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis two weeks ago could touch off a new outbreak of the disease.

They say it is too early to tell if the protests have had an impact on the increase in cases.

It comes as the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation revised its projected death toll upwards on Tuesday by 5,000 fatalities.

The latest forecast predicts 145,728 people will die in the US by August 4, which is up from the 140,496 fatalities projected on June 5.

Five days earlier, the model had been predicting 135,109 deaths.

Researchers did not give a reason for the abrupt revision.

More than 110,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19 in the last three months and over 1.9 million people have been infected.

Arizona recorded an increase of more than 90 percent in new cases in the week ending June 7 compared with the previous seven days, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.

Michigan saw a 158 percent increase in new cases last week due mainly to the state reporting 5,000 probably cases on June 5.

Arkansas, Utah, New Mexico and Massachusetts all saw weekly increases of more than 40 percent and new cases in Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina all rose by more than 30 percent in the past week.

In New Mexico, about half of the new cases were from one prison in Otero County, state health officials said. Utah said at least 287 of the state’s 2,269 new cases were tied to an outbreak at a meat processing plant in Cache County.

Florida attributed its increase to more testing, while the other states have not commented on the increase in cases.

New cases in Texas were up 19 percent in a week, according to the analysis. Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services showed that the state had recorded a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday with 1,935 people admitted to hospitals. It tops the previous record of 1,888 hospitalizations on May 5.

The national number of new infections in the first week of June increased by 3 percent – the first increase after five weeks of declines, according to an analysis.

Despite all states having at least partially reopened, only 16 states and the District of Columbia met the CDC’s criteria for 14 days of declining new cases in the last week.

Pennsylvania and New York lead with eight straight weeks of declines.

Many states have ramped up COVID-19 testing in recent weeks and a record 545,000 tests were reported in a single day last week across the US.

Nationally, the rate of positive tests has hovered between 4 percent and 7 percent for several weeks.

At least 28 states are currently not following CDC recommendations to include probable cases in their infection totals. Probable infections are when a person display symptoms of COVID-19 but a lab test has not confirmed it.

California, Florida, New York and Texas are among the states not including probable cases.

The CDC’s reporting guidelines for COVID-19 are only voluntary.

The increase in cases comes after all 50 US states reopened – some before meeting the White House and CDC’s guidelines, including a 14-day downward trajectory of new infections.

Top health officials have said they are monitoring the potential spread of COVID-19 as widespread protests continue across the US in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25.

Thousands of Americans have jammed the nation’s streets over the past week in defiance of social distancing guidelines from governors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The White House coronavirus task force, which has dramatically scaled back its operations as states reopen their economies, is scrambling to track the potential impact on infection rates.

Public health officials have been warning that the widespread protests could fuel new transmissions of coronavirus due to the close proximity of protesters and given that some are not wearing masks.

The CDC said on Sunday it was closely monitoring the nationwide protests for any potential COVID-19 outbreaks.

‘It is too early to know what, if any, effect these events will have on the federal COVID-19 response,’ CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said.

‘Every local situation is different. State and local officials will make decisions to protect public health and safety based on circumstances on the ground.’

It could take weeks to judge the impact of the nationwide protests on the spread of COVID-19, which had been dramatically ebbing across most of the country before the killing of Floyd.

Those infected with the virus sometimes take several days to display symptoms, creating a lag in the data.

Many protesters were also masked and skewed younger – a population that is less affected by the virus but may also have greater numbers of asymptomatic spreaders – complicating predictions.

Dr Deborah Birx, the administration’s coronavirus coordinator, has been monitoring the protests since they began, looking for indicators of potential resurgence in cases, a White House official has said.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Birx was expected to present the task force with early impressions this week but the fuller picture likely won’t be known for some time.

White House officials are warily watching metropolitan areas where the protests have ignited, hoping the outdoor settings reduce the risk.

Cellphone data from Apple’s COVID-19 mobility trends report showed that the number of people out walking in Washington DC, Cleveland and Houston at the weekend spiked above pre-pandemic levels.

The data shows that the number of people out walking in Washington DC on Saturday was up 40 percent compared to the baseline from January.

The data shows the number of people leaving their homes, which coincided with huge protests held near the White House, increased to levels not seen mid-March when stay-at-home orders were put in place across most of the country.