National Post (National Edition)
U.S. has already recorded 1M COVID cases in November
Latest surge brings record number of hospitalizations
The U.S. reached record numbers of hospitalizations from COVID-19 on Tuesday, and has registered a million new cases for November already, The Associated Press reports.
New infection rates now far exceed 100,00 per day, for a total of more than 10 million. Citing the COVID Tracking Project, the AP reports there are 61,964 hospitalized with the virus in the U.S.
“The virus is spreading in a largely uncontrolled fashion across the vast majority of the country,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt University, told the AP.
A surge in COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths across the United States raised fears that a second wave could engulf areas of the Northeast, which managed to bring the pandemic under control after being battered last spring.
In New Jersey, one of the early U.S. hot spots, a spike in cases in Newark, the state's largest city, prompted Mayor Ras Baraka to implement aggressive measures, including a mandatory curfew for certain areas, to contain the spread of the virus.
New York state and city officials also reported a worrying rise in the seven-day average infection rate that raised the spectre of stricter mitigation measures adopted at the height of the pandemic.
“This is our LAST chance to stop a second wave,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter on Wednesday as he announced the seven-day average positivity rate citywide was 2.52 per cent. The city's public school system, the largest in the country, would have to shut down if that figure reached 3 per cent. “We can do it, but we have to act NOW,” he said.
The United States as a whole reported more than 1,450 deaths on Tuesday, the highest single-day count since mid-August, according to a Reuters analysis.
California and several states across the U.S. Midwest tightened restrictions on residents on Tuesday as Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, called on Americans to remain vigilant until a vaccine can be approved and distributed.
The new clampdowns were announced as the number of infections surged again with the onset of colder weather, straining hospitals and medical resources in some cities.
“There's a real thing called COVID-19 fatigue, that's understandable,” Fauci told CNN in an interview. “But hang in there a bit longer, do the things you need to do and we'll be OK.”
California has seen coronavirus hospitalizations spiral by 32 per cent over the past two weeks, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's health and human services secretary, told reporters at a briefing. Intensive-care unit admissions had spiked by 30 per cent, he said.
Three California counties home to about 5.5 million people — San Diego, Sacramento and Stanislaus — must reverse their reopening plans and go back to the most restrictive category of rules as a result of the spikes, Ghaly said.
Those regulations ban indoor dining in restaurants, as well as indoor activities in gyms and religious institutions.
“We anticipate if things stay the way they are ... over half of California counties will have moved into a more restrictive tier” by next week, Ghaly said.
In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz announced new restrictions as the Midwestern state reported record-high daily COVID-19 hospitalizations, and medical systems said they may struggle to cope with the surge.
Beginning on Friday, restaurants and bars in Minnesota must close dine-in services between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. and keep the number of patrons below 50 per cent of capacity. The governor's order also includes private social gatherings, which must be limited to 10 people from three households or less.
“We've turned our dials, we're going to have to turn them back a little bit today,” Walz told a briefing. In Illinois, which recorded its highest number of daily cases on Tuesday with 12,626 new infections,
Governor J.B. Pritzker told reporters a majority of the state's regions were seeing higher hospitalization rates than in the spring.
The United States, the world's third-most populous country behind China and India, has logged the greatest number of cases and deaths, although other countries have higher per-capita totals.
Fauci welcomed the Pfizer vaccine announcement but warned the winter months promised to bring more infections as people stay indoors. Health officials were reporting more infections from small gatherings, an indication the virus is being spread by asymptomatic people, he told MSNBC. Cases were also spiking in nursing homes, said Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living.
Nursing homes in the hard-hit Midwest had seen a 120 per cent increase in weekly COVID-19 cases since mid-September, the group said.
THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO STOP A SECOND WAVE.