New York, Nov. 19, (dpa/GNA) – The United States has recorded its highest daily coronavirus-related death toll since May, as the pandemic rages across the country and strains health care systems.
Data released by Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday showed that there were 1,707 fatalities a day earlier.
The overall US death toll from the pandemic has passed 250,000, according to the tally, making the country the first nation to reach the quarter-million mark.
Deaths lag behind the trend in cases, which are surging. The US reported some 161,900 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, according to the Baltimore-based university, marking at least two weeks of daily cases exceeding 100,000.
The US has seen far more deaths and cases than any other nation, logging 11.4 million infections since the start of the pandemic.
While earlier outbreaks hit New York, then southern and western states particularly hard, the current surge is widespread across the country. The Upper Midwest, such as the Dakotas, and Plains states like Nebraska and Iowa have seen big spikes.
Hospitalizations are also reaching record-highs, overwhelming health care facilities in some areas. In Wisconsin, 91 per cent of intensive care unit beds are full, according to state data.
Multiple states are rolling back reopenings in order to curb the spread of the virus, which experts fear will occur more rapidly as colder weather drives people indoors.
New York City, which has the nation’s largest public school system, is closing schools again this week after hitting a 3-per-cent positivity rate threshold, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
The White House press secretary meanwhile dubbed efforts by local authorities as “Orwellian,” and seemed to reject pleas by officials for people to avoid large gatherings for Thanksgiving, a major US holiday, next week.
“I think a lot of the guidelines you’re seeing are Orwellian,” Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News, even as the anchor asking the question appeared to be concerned about the rate of infections in the US.
“The American people know how to protect their health. We’ve dealt with Covid for many months,” McEnany said, criticizing Oregon, a western state where the governor limited gatherings to six people, and threatened legal action against violators.
The press secretary insisted people in the US are “freedom-loving,” implying that regulations to curb the virus violate rights.
In a contrasting message from within the Trump administration, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir warned the US was at a “dangerous point” that needed to be addressed “with the utmost seriousness.”
“Right now we are in the steepest rate of rise in numbers of cases, our hospitalizations are going up 25 per cent week over week, our deaths are going up 25 per cent week over week,” he told broadcaster MSNBC, adding there was “no sign of flattening.”
In promising news, two US vaccine efforts have so far yielded positive results, with pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer announcing on Wednesday that its Covid-19 vaccine is 95-per-cent effective in the latest analysis.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said 40 million vaccine doses – covering 20 million people – would be available by the end of December.
But its not until several months into 2021 that vaccine doses are expected to be widely available.
President Donald Trump has hailed recent progress on vaccine developments, but has otherwise stayed silent on the massive new outbreaks.
There are growing concerns that the Trump administration is increasingly absent from efforts to slow the spread of the virus, and that Trump’s refusal to facilitate the smooth transition of power to president-elect Joe Biden will cause further harm.
Biden himself has warned that the refusal by the White House to work with the incoming administration could result in more people dying.
In another sign of his focus on fighting the pandemic, Biden on Wednesday met with front-line health care workers in an online round table. They spoke of being overworked and lacking equipment, including masks.
Trump continues to deny that he lost the election and is maintaining legal battles in the country’s courts to try to overturn results in key swing states.
GNA