Coronavirus cases in the United States have now surpassed a staggering 4 million cases and are on track to record an additional million in just two weeks as over 1,100 deaths are recorded in one day and reach levels not seen in two months.
The total of 4 million cases reported on Thursday reflects a rapid acceleration of infections in the country since the first case was registered on January 21.
It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases, but only 16 days to go from 3 million to 4 million. The total case indicates that at least one in 82 people in the United States has been infected.
The average number of new cases in the US now increases by more than 2,600 per hour, the highest rate in the world.
Last week, the average number of daily cases reached 66,000, and based on that trajectory, cases will increase by one million in the first week of August.
More than 143,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 after daily deaths exceeded 1,000 on Wednesday for the second time this week.
There has been an increase in deaths, on average, in the US since early July after critical states, such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California, saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations.
Coronavirus cases in the United States have now surpassed a staggering 4 million and are on track to record an additional million in just two weeks as over 1,100 deaths are recorded in one day and reach levels not seen in two months .
On Wednesday, Texas set one-day records for increases in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations in the state.
The state, which reported 197 deaths and 10,893 hospitalizations, has been one of the most affected by the resurgence of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, California overtook New York on Wednesday to have the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Partly due to robust testing in a state with more than double New York’s population.
The total number of infections in the most populous state in the US is now 413,579 after adding a record peak of 12,807 in new cases daily, the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began.
New York currently has 408,181 total infections statewide.
New York has recorded by far the highest number of deaths of any state in the US In over 32,000 with California in fourth place with over 8,000 deaths.
If California were a country, it would rank fifth in the world in total coronavirus cases only behind the United States, Brazil, India and Russia.
Deaths have topped 1,000 twice this week in the United States, which has not been seen since May.
There has been an increase in deaths, on average, in the US since early July after critical states, such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California, saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations. Deaths in the four critical states are shown above, dated through July 21.
Coronavirus deaths are now on the rise in 23 states, and the country’s three most populous states, Florida, Texas, and California, top the list of 44 states where cases are on the rise.
The increase in deaths and hospitalizations in Texas has forced a county to store bodies in refrigerated trucks and has prompted a senior health official to ask for new orders to stay home.
Hidalgo County, in the far south of the state on the U.S. border with Mexico, has seen cases increase by 60 percent in the past week, with deaths doubling to more than 360.
“We have to tie this virus, this stallion, lower the numbers and control this,” said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez.
“Because our hospitals are war zones, they are really fighting right now.”
Cortez, a Democrat who serves as the county’s top official, issued a place-of-refuge order for residents. That mandate put him at odds with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who argues that local officials do not have the authority to make residents stay at home. Refrigerated trucks that can hold 50 bodies each.
Hidalgo’s top medical official, Dr. Ivan Meléndez, partly blamed Abbott’s move to override local officials for the surge in coronavirus infections, which he says has clogged the local medical system at all levels.
Texas deaths: Texas set a one-day record of 197 coronavirus-related deaths Wednesday
TEXAS CASES: Texas recorded 9,879 new cases on Wednesday, down from a record 10,791 on July 15
CALIFORNIA CASES: California added a record 12,807 spikes in new cases daily on Wednesday, the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began
DEATHS IN CALIFORNIA: Deaths in California increased by 115 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 7,870.
‘Do I believe that an order to stay home is medically indicated at this time? Absolutely, ‘said Meléndez.
Meanwhile, US labs are doubling under a wave of coronavirus testing, creating long delays in processing that experts say are undermining the response to the pandemic.
With the count of confirmed infections at nearly 4 million and the increase in new cases, bottlenecks are creating problems for workers who stay out of work while waiting for results, nursing homes are struggling to keep the virus out and for Labs themselves as they face a crushing workload.
Some labs take weeks to return COVID-19 results, exacerbating fears that symptom-free people may spread the virus if they don’t isolate themselves while they wait.
‘There has been this obsession with’ How many tests do we do per day? said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The question is how many tests are being done with results that return within a day, where the examined individual quickly isolates himself and his contacts are notified.”
Frieden and other public health experts have asked states to publicly report test response times, calling it an essential measure to measure progress against the virus.
Overall, deaths in the United States rose 5 percent in the week ending July 19, compared to the previous seven days, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project. Nineteen states have reported increases in deaths for at least two weeks in a row
The United States also reported more than 460,000 new cases of coronavirus last week, nearly 15 percent more than the previous week. Nationwide, new cases of COVID-19 have increased for seven consecutive weeks. Forty-three states reported more new cases of COVID-19 last week compared to the previous week, according to the analysis.
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