4 states' daily coronavirus case numbers show they're probably reopening too soon

People take advantage of a Duval County beach opening for physical activity amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Jacksonville, Florida, April 19, 2020.Sam Thomas/Reuters

• At least 32 states in the US have lifted or eased their lockdown restrictions, including Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, and Maine.
• Charts of new daily coronavirus infections reported in those five states show that new cases aren't declining anywhere but Alaska. In fact, they're barely plateauing.
• If states ease social-distancing measures while outbreaks are still growing, they could see a surge in cases.
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States across the US are easing lockdown measures even though the country's number of new daily infections isn't in decline.

Overall, the number of new cases reported each day nationwide seems to have hit a plateau, but that trend obscures state-level realities. In many places outside of New York and New Jersey, case numbers are still rising.

Most guidelines suggest keeping social-distancing restrictions in place until there's a downward trend in new infection rates. But charts showing cases reported over time in five states — Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, and Maine — reveal that Alaska is the only one with that kind of downward trajectory. All five, however, are reopening.

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