‘Winter surge’ fears grow
WHO warns Europe that hospitals could clog
The U.S. recorded more than 69,000 new cases on Friday for the first time since July, and updated virus projections are bringing the long-feared “winter surge” of COVID-19 cases into focus.
The U.S. recorded more than 69,000 new cases Friday for the first time since July, and updated virus projections are bringing the long-feared “winter surge” of COVID-19 cases into focus as health experts warn an increasing number of infections in the U.S. will soon mean more deaths.
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s latest model updates contain spots of good news: 74,000 American lives could be saved if mask use becomes nearly universal, and increased testing may explain why more young people are testing positive.
But the influential model still projects daily U.S. deaths will surpass 2,000 in January, even with states reimposing stricter orders.
The guidance also called out North Dakota specifically for its alarming death rate, following a well-documented lax approach to health mandates in the state.
A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data through late Friday shows 16 states set records for new cases in a week while one state had a record number of deaths in a week.
New case records were set in Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and also Guam. Record num
bers of deaths were reported in Wisconsin.
In other developments:
Hope that a vaccine might be available before Election Day faded as two front-runner candidates have said late November is the earliest they could apply for authorization for their vaccines.
● New Mexico set a single-day record with 819 confirmed cases, health officials confirmed Friday.
The U.S. has reported more than 8 million cases and about 219,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data. There have been more than 39 million confirmed cases around the world and more than 1.1 million deaths.
Meanwhile, the Vatican said Saturday someone who lives in the same Vatican hotel as Pope Francis has tested positive for the coronavirus, adding to
the 11 cases of COVID-19 among the Swiss Guards, who serve as ceremonial guards at papal Masses, guard the Vatican City gates and protect the pope
At 83 and with part of a lung removed when he was in his 20s due to illness, the pope would be at high-risk for COVID-19 complications.
Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, regional director for the World Health Organization in Europe, warns that the daily death toll on the continent could reach five times its April peak by January 2021. On Friday, the WHO warned that intensive care units in a number of European cities could reach maximum capacity in the coming weeks if the number of infections is not slowed.