ONE WORD

Vice President Mike Pence hailed “remarkable progress” toward returning the nation to normalcy at the first public briefing of the coronavirus task force in nearly two months on Friday, a day the U.S. saw a new high for coronavirus cases recorded. “We have made truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward,” Pence told reporters at a briefing held at the Department of Health and Human Services. “We’ve all seen the encouraging news as we open up America again — more than 3 million jobs created in the last jobs report and retail sales are rolling.” Pence said that “all 50 states are opening up safely and responsibly,” but “with cases rising, particularly over the past week throughout the South,” President Trump had asked him to brief the nation on the ongoing emergency. In some of the states where cases are rising fastest, notably Texas and Florida, governors have slowed or reversed measures to reopen businesses and relax social distancing rules. On Friday, the country reported

The number of new confirmed  coronavirus  cases in the United States surged to an all-time high with 45,300 new cases reported on Friday, according to  a tally  by Johns Hopkins University. That's up from  40,000 new cases  reported a day earlier. The spike comes more than three months since the first wave mostly struck cities in the country's north and east – and then declined. Thirty-one states have reported jumps in cases compared to two weeks ago, Michael George reports for "CBS This Morning: Saturday." Big increases in COVID-19 cases are now being reported across the Sun Belt. In Texas and Florida, two of the nation's largest states, governors are reversing course and tightening restrictions after coronavirus numbers jumped following their reopenings. Texas reported that more than 5,100 coronavirus patients are currently hospitalized – a record high for the 15th consecutive day. Hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, located in Harris County in the heart of H