South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
US passes 4,000 daily deaths from coronavirus for 1st time
ORANGE, Calif. — The U.S. topped 4,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day for the first time, breaking a record set one day earlier, with several Sun Belt states driving the surge.
The tally from Johns Hopkins University showed the nation had 4,085 deaths Thursday, along with nearly
275,000 new cases of the virus — evidence that the crisis is growing worse after family gatherings and travel over the holidays and the onset of winter, which is forcing people indoors.
Deaths have reached epic proportions. Since just Monday, the United States has recorded 13,500 — more than Pearl Harbor, D-Day,
9/11 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake combined.
Overall, the scourge has left more than 367,000 dead in the U.S. and caused nearly
22 million confirmed infections. More than 132,000 people nationwide are hospitalized with COVID-19.
Britain, with one-fifth the population of the U.S., likewise reported on Friday its highest one-day count of deaths yet: 1,325. That brings the country’s toll to nearly 80,000, the highest in Europe.
The number of Americans who have gotten their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine climbed to almost
6.7 million Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a one-day gain of about
800,000 after a slow start to the campaign.
The goal ultimately is to vaccinate hundreds of millions in the U.S., though health care workers and nursing home residents are getting priority in most places for now.
Faced with mounting criticism over the slow pace of the rollout, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that starting next week, the state will allow a much wider swath of the public to get inoculated, including anyone 75 or older, teachers and first responders. New Mexico is likewise expanding eligibility to the elderly as well as people with underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus.
In Arizona, a vaccination site will open Monday at the suburban Phoenix stadium where the NFL’s Cardinals play. State officials said it will be capable of vaccinating thousands of people each day. Oregon plans to administer thousands of shots at the state fairgrounds in Salem this weekend with help from the National Guard.
Cases and deaths are soaring in California, Arizona, Texas and Florida. Those four states had a combined nearly 1,500 deaths and 80,000 cases on Thursday. Daily records have been set in those states this week, as well as in Mississippi and Nevada.
Many hospitals in Los Angeles and other hard-hit areas are struggling to keep up and warned they may need to ration lifesaving care. Nurses are caring for more sick people than typically allowed under the law after the state began issuing waivers to the strict nurseto-patient ratios.
Active-duty military medical personnel were dispatched to a Southern California hospital overwhelmed with COVD-19 patients.
The outbreak has taken another turn for the worse in Arizona, with the state now leading the nation with the highest COVID-19 diagnosis rate. Since Dec. 31, one in every 111 Arizonans has been diagnosed with the virus.