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The United States has seen more than 250,000 deaths due to Covid-19 when a new strip of data was released that pushed the affected country past the grim milestone on Wednesday.
The latest figures from Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of people killed by the virus is now 250,029.
The news comes amid record infections in the US, and the Trump administration repeatedly failed to control the Covid-19 crisis. More recently, Trump has refused to admit he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden, who this week said “more people could die” if he continues to hamper his transition.
More than 11 million Americans have been infected during the pandemic, by far the largest total in the world; The United States also has the highest death toll and is among the hardest hit developed countries in terms of death rate.
Over the past two weeks, more than 100,000 people have been infected every day, as the country has seen large increases in positive cases in almost every state, but especially the Midwestern states and Great Plains.
Earlier on Wednesday, in a sign of the growing lockdown measures being taken in the US, officials announced that public schools in New York City will close again, on Thursday, after the city reached a Covid test positivity rate of 3%.
Case rates are increasing in states and cities across the country. In California this week, the governor announced that he would put the “emergency brake” on the reopening, while Los Angeles prepares for a mandatory curfew.
Hopes for relief on the horizon have risen after the makers of two leading candidate vaccines announced that their drugs are far more effective than initially predicted. But these vaccines are months away and will face complex logistical challenges.
Experts warn that the country could face a difficult winter if security measures are not widely adopted.
Michael Osterholm, an adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, recently told NBC: “We are in a very dangerous period, the most dangerous public health period since 1918.”
Critics say the Trump administration has almost surrendered to the pandemic, especially now that it is a boorish president with little political motivation to take tough action. Trump has not attended a coronavirus task force meeting in “at least five months,” public health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said last weekend.
Fauci recommends “uniform wearing of masks” to help curb the outbreak in the United States, he told CNN on Tuesday.
On Monday, Fauci told NBC’s Today show that “vaccine doses will be available for people in the high-risk category by the end of December” from both Moderna and Pfizer.
He added: “The fact that aid is on the way should further push us to redouble some of the public health measures, so that we can use the combination of a vaccine and public health measures to reverse this situation. We can do it “.
Trump has refused to enforce mitigation measures such as the use of masks and social distancing, and said his administration will not implement more lockdowns. The It has also refused to participate in the transition process, meaning that information about Covid-19 is not being shared with Biden, who has appointed his own pandemic advisory group.
On Wednesday, a White House task force report warned of “a broad, aggressive, relentless and nationwide community with no evidence of improvement, but rather of further deterioration.”
The report, which was widely leaked to the media, added: “Current mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be scaled up.”
Across the United States, there is an erratic response from local state governments. Some states are implementing stricter controls, such as California, Washington, Minnesota and Maryland, where healthcare systems are under great pressure. Oregon and New Mexico have implemented new social restrictions, while North Dakota has introduced a mask mandate. Starting Monday, the Navajo Nation will enter a three-week stay-at-home advisory period.
Yet other hard-hit states, such as South Dakota, have taken little action to combat the new virus outbreak, even as it stretches its network of hospitals to the limit.
