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WASHINGTON – The United States set a grim double record on Wednesday (December 16) with more than 3,700 deaths and more than 250,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The country has seen a dramatic increase in COVID-19 infections for more than a month, with some 113,000 people currently hospitalized due to the virus, also a new record, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The count marks the third time in the past week that the United States has crossed the 3,000-death threshold. The previous 24-hour record was set in late April at the height of the country’s first wave, which never fully ended.
READ: US vaccine campaign grows as COVID-19 kills more than 2,500 Americans daily
Medical workers treat a patient at a Brooklyn hospital on December 15, 2020 in New York City. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images / Spencer Platt)
Over the past two weeks, the number of new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours has risen above 200,000 for 11 of the 14 days.
The exact death toll on Wednesday was 3,784 fatalities in the last 24 hours before 8.30 pm local time.
Health officials feared that the Thanksgiving holiday in late November would trigger a new outbreak of the novel coronavirus after millions of Americans traveled to meet friends and family.
Experts now fear that the situation will worsen further after the end of the year celebrations, including Christmas.
The latest records were set even as the United States undergoes its first week of a mass vaccination program aimed at stopping the growing pandemic.
READ: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac: A Look at Three Key COVID-19 Vaccines
Paramedics take an elevator to an apartment to assess a woman with COVID-19 symptoms on December 15, 2020 in Yonkers, New York. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images / John Moore)
On Monday, the first injections of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were given in the United States, although authorities warn that it will still be months before a large enough portion of the population is immunized.
Faced with the urgency of the situation and fears of vaccine shortages, the US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that six or even seven doses could be drawn from vials that were supposed to contain only five doses to prevent them from unused vaccines will be discarded.
“At this time, given the public health emergency, the FDA advises that it is acceptable to use all the full doses that can be obtained,” he said in a tweet, adding that Pfizer agreed with the recommendation.
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