U. S. deaths, cases reach record levels

Deaths from COVID19 in the U. S. have soared to more than 2,200 a day on average, matching the frightening peak reached last April, and cases per day have eclipsed 200,000 on average for the first time on record, with the crisis all but certain to get worse because of the fallout from Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

Virtually every state is reporting surges just as a vaccine appears days away from getting the goahead in the United States.

“The epidemic in the U. S. is punishing. It’s widespread. It’s quite frankly shocking to see one to two persons a minute die in the U. S. — a country with a wonderful, strong health system, amazing technological capacities,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s chief of emergencies.

The virus is blamed for more than 285,000 deaths and at least 15 million confirmed infections in the United States.