July 4, 2020 held special meaning for many Americans.
It was not only a celebration of U.S. independence but a celebration of personal freedom as well.
After much of the country went into lockdown during spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic - closing stores, restaurants, movie theaters and other small businesses - many felt that things were finally going to return to normal.
Instead, the holiday kicked off a summer suffering, and produced the second largest surge of the pandemic with an average of about 68,000 cases and 900 deaths per day.
Cases are down 83 percent compared to last year at about 11,000 per day and deaths have plunged 66 percent to 300 daily, and 54 percent of the population has had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
But doctors tell DailyMail.com they have some fears another surge could form after the holiday this year just like the year before.
Doctors fear another surge in COVID-19 cases could be right around the corner similar to the second wave that was kicked off after July 4 last year (seen above)
It comes as nearly every state in the U.S. is seeing cases increase or hold steady as COViD-19 vaccination rates stall
'The July surge was incredible,' Dr Marjorie Bessel, chief clinical officer of Banner Health in Phoenix, Arizona, told DailyMail.com in reference to last year.
The July 4 holiday kicked off a massive swell of cases in the U.S. that would not get under control until deep into autumn.
More than 100,000 Americans died over summer 2020 - with a death toll of 100,000 recorded May 26 and 200,000 recorded on September 22 - as the nation lost control of the pandemic.
The state of Arizona became a COVID-19 hotspot, and hospitals like Bessel's were overwhelmed with patients.
Many medical experts like Bessel foresaw the surge, knowing the state had reopened too early and that not enough was being done to protect Arizonans.
'We knew back then, that opening up that quickly, without any vaccine, and without taking appropriate steps was going to result in a surge,' she said.
Bessel said it wasn't just disappointing to see the people that got sick but that so many were hospitalized and couldn't see their loved ones at home.
Arizona, Florida, and many other parts of the country opened too early last year, causing a huge swell of cases last summer
'How scary is that for somebody who's sick with COVID, getting worse having to be hospitalized, and kind of forever going behind the doors of the hospital, not to be able to see their loved ones, and those that help support them during the very, very difficult illness?' she said.
'And then, of course, the ultimate tragedy is those that actually died from the illness and how they are forgotten - forever gone from our world, how they are forever missed by their family and their friends.'
Bessel described her hospital as being overwhelmed, with not enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and not enough room for all the patients.
It was emotionally overwhelming as well, she said, as her team watched many people die, often having to comfort them in their final moments en lieu of their family due to limited visitation.
While 2021 may not be as particularly brutal for hospitals in Phoenix, Bessel fears another potential surge striking in the coming weeks.
Arkansas is among the states suffering from large surge at the moment, with its case rate increasing by more than 200 percent in the last two weeks from around 230 cases per day to more than 700 per day.
Coronavirus cases have also risen in Nevada by 167 percent in the past two weeks from around 250 per day to around 660 per day.
More than 100,000 Americans died from COVID-19 in July and August last year
Arizona has also seen a 29 percent spike in the last two weeks with the seven-day rolling average rising from 425 cases per day to 550 per day.
Arizona is fully open, but not enough residents are vaccinated for people in the state to feel safe, Bessel said.
She noted that Arizona - where about 50 percent of the state's population has received one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine - is below the national average of 67 percent and is not near
