America hits highest daily number of coronavirus cases since pandemic began

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Sat, 2020-10-24 00:17 — mike kraft

America is poised to enter into its worst stretch yet of the pandemic Hospitalizations are rising so quickly many facilities in the Midwest have already become overwhelmed. And the number of deaths nationally has crested above 1,000 in recent days. William Wan, Jacqueline Dupree Washington Post

America on Friday hit its highest daily number of coronavirus case since the pandemic began, recording at least 81,400 new infections and surpassing the previous record set during the summertime surge of cases across the Sun Belt.

The rising numbers puts the nation on the precipice of what could be its worst stretch to date in the pandemic with some hospitals in the West and Midwest already overwhelmed and deaths counts beginning to rise.

The current surge is considerably more widespread than the waves from last summer and spring. The unprecedented geographic spread of the current surge makes it more dangerous, with experts warning it could lead to dire shortages of medical staff and supplies. Already, hospitals are reporting shortfalls of basic drugs needed to treat covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

And it’s not simply a matter of increased testing identifying more cases. Covid-19 hospitalizations increased in 38 states over the past week and are rising so quickly that many facilities in the West and Midwest are already overwhelmed. The number of deaths nationally has crested above 1,000 in recent days.

The last time the country hit a new daily record for coronavirus cases — 76,533 on July 17 — just four states accounted for more than 40,000 of those cases: Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

This time, 14 states account for that same lion’s share of cases. And 22 states have broken their records for single-day highs of cases in the past two weeks.

More than 170 counties across 36 states were designated rapidly rising hotspots, according to an internal federal report produced Thursday for officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and obtained by The Washington Post. ...

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