100,000 people now hospitalised in the US as daily deaths from Covid-19 surpass 3,000 on Wednesday

The US’s single-day toll for Covid-19 deaths passed 3,000 people for the first time on Wednesday. Yesterday the US recorded its 14 millionth coronavirus case, with the local pandemic currently racing out of control. Wednesday’s death toll of 3,157 people came as hospitalisations surpassed 100,000 for the first time.

The US has recored 1 million additional cases of Covid-19 in less than one week. Many hospitals are now being forced to suspend elective surgeries and other routine operations. Many states are also setting up temporary field hospitals and stretching medical staff hours to cope with the current surge in new cases. In both the number of deaths and new Covid cases, the trend is rising worryingly fast, surprising health officials as they battle to find ways of mitigating the virus in the current political climate.

The director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, predicts that the US could reach 450,000 deaths by February, exceeding some earlier models for the progression of the virus in the US. Unlike parts of Asia, the US has largely shunned the mandatory wearing of face masks with much of the day to day life ignoring even the basics of social distancing and other hygiene measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

“The reality is, December and January and February are going to be rough times, and I actually believe they’re going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of our nation, largely because of the stress it’s going to put on our public health system.”

GRAPHS: Today’s Covid-19 statistics – Worldometers.info/coronavirus

President-elect Joe Biden announced yesterday that he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president. The move marks a quantum shift from incumbent President Donald Trump, whose personal skepticism of mask-wearing has contributed to political polarisation of the health issue.

Showing their support for firm action to mitigate the spread of the virus in the US, former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have all announced they will take the Covid-19 vaccine to prove that the treatment is safe and effective. They said they may even film themselves getting injected to show US citizens that they consider the vaccine safe and an important step to preventing a further public health catastrophe.

GRAPHS: Worldometers.info/coronavirus

INFORMATION: USA Today | Fox News | Associate Press