Daily U. S. virus cases surge to all- time high
New confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U. S. have climbed to an all- time high of more than 86,000 per day on average, in a glimpse of the worsening crisis that lies ahead for the winner of the presidential election.
Cases and hospitalizations are setting records all around the country just as the holidays and winter approach, demonstrating the challenge that either President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden will face in the coming months.
Daily new confirmed coronavirus cases in the
U. S. have surged 45% over the past two weeks, to a record seven- day average of 86,352, according to data compiled by
Johns Hopkins University. Deaths are also on the rise, up 15% to an average of 846 deaths every day.
The total U. S. death toll is already more than 232,000, and total confirmed U. S. cases have surpassed 9 million. Those are the highest totals in the world.
Several states on Wednesday reported grim numbers that are fueling the national trends. Texas reported 9,048 new cases and 126 deaths, and the number of coronavirus patients in Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma hospitals set records. About a third of the new cases in Texas happened in hard- hit El Paso, where a top health official said hospitals are at a “breaking point.”
Public health experts fear potentially dire consequences, at least in the short term.
Trump’s current term doesn’t end until Jan. 20. In the 86 days until then, 100,000 more Americans will likely die from the virus if the nation doesn’t shift course, said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, echoing estimates from other public health experts.
“Where we are is in an extremely dire place as a country. Every metric that we have is trending in the wrong direction. This is a virus that will continue to escalate at an accelerated speed and that is not going to stop on its own,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health expert at George Washington University.