The United States is preparing to celebrate Independence Day, but the celebrations come as the country sees a record high number of new cases of COVID-19 - with more than 50,000 infections reported in one day.

"I hope we don't have a reprise of what happened on Memorial Day with lots of people out there carefree rather than careful," says Dr. William Schaffner, a CDC adviser.


John Hopkins University reports that there are more than 2.7 million confirmed cases in the U.S. and counting.

"If you turn your back on the virus, if you turn your back on science it's going to bite you.  And that's what is happening in most of the U.S., where we're seeing increases," says Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the CDC.


However, President Donald Trump says the U.S. has control of COVID-19.

"We are putting out the fires, but other places were long before us and they are now -- it's got a life. And we are putting out that life because that's a bad life that we are talking about,” says Trump. 

Meanwhile, travel data company Arrivalist predicts more than 36 million Americans are hitting the road this holiday weekend.

Health officials stress the importance of being cautious.

"It's not that we're against bars or drinking, it's just the science. If you have lots of people in an indoor space for a long period of time not wearing masks, you're going to have spread of COVID-19," says Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.