Daily deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday topped 1,000 for the first time in the US since early June, as Donald Trump admitted that the crisis would “get worse” before it got better.
The seven-day average for the number of deaths in the country has slowly increased this month, according to multiple data analyzes, and passed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday, bringing U.S. deaths to more than 142,000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has forecast that the country will reach 150,000 deaths in early August.
The maximum number of people hospitalized immediately was 59,000 on Tuesday, according to the Covid Monitoring Project, reaching figures that were last seen in April when the virus was rapidly spreading in the northeastern U.S.
At the White House daily renewed coronavirus news conference on Tuesday night, the president said the virus “will unfortunately likely get worse before it gets better,” an admission in line with what public health experts have been saying during months. Trump still praised the United States’ response to the pandemic, saying it has been “better than most.”
Trump also acknowledged in his prepared remarks that “whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact.” But in answering a question from a journalist, Trump took a softer stance, saying “in theory, you don’t need the mask,” but hinted that he was feeling more comfortable wearing it.
As Trump took an unusually sober tone during the press conference, which is scheduled to continue daily, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease expert, told CNN that he was not invited to the briefing. Fauci was once a praised element of daily briefings, but has recently come under fire from Trump and his allies, apparently for taking the President’s attention.
Public health experts like Fauci have warned for weeks that the United States will see the consequences of ending closing orders too soon. As southern states experienced sudden increases in new infections, experts said those states will finally see an increase in deaths.
That fear is becoming a reality as deaths in those states reached near record highs on Tuesday. Texas saw 131 deaths, while Florida and Arizona saw 134 deaths, the second highest number seen so far for the states. Public health officials said ICU beds in those states are nearing their peak with an increase in hospitalizations amid the peaks.
The capacity of Florida hospitals has been particularly alarming. Some counties have been completely bedless in the intensive care unit due to the influx of Covid-19 patients. The state’s daily infection rate has hovered around 10,000 in the past two weeks, and the number of deaths reached more than 100 on some days in the past two weeks.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been criticized for his handling of the virus in the state. The governor has repeatedly refused to implement a mask mandate and is being sued by the state teachers union for going ahead with plans to reopen all schools for in-person learning in August. DeSantis said Tuesday that despite the alarming numbers, the state is “turning this in a good direction.”
At the opposite end of the Gulf Coast, Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, issued a mask mandate and halted the state’s reopening phases earlier this month. Hospitalizations in the state have seen small falls, although the state is still seeing a large number of new cases. Daily increases in the state peaked at 14,900 on July 17 and have since ranged from 7,000 to 10,000 new cases per day.
Confirmed California coronavirus cases have topped 409,000, beating New York for most of the nation, according to Johns Hopkins University data showing Wednesday that California now has about 1,200 more cases than New York.
However, New York’s 32,520 deaths are by far the highest total in the country and four times more than California’s count, and its confirmed infection rate of approximately 2,100 per 100,000 people is double the rate of California.
California is the most populous state in the US, with nearly 40 million people, while New York has approximately 19.5 million.
In other developments on Wednesday, it was announced that the Trump administration will pay Pfizer nearly $ 2 billion for a December delivery of 100 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine that the pharmaceutical company is developing.
Health and human services secretary Alex Azar announced the deal and said the United States could buy another 500 million doses under the deal.
“Now, of course, that would have to be safe and effective” and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Azar said during an appearance on Fox News.
Numerous potential vaccines are being developed in the US and around the world.
