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The US coronavirus wave showed no signs of abating during Thanksgiving, which saw over 100,000 new cases and hospitalizations continue to break records.
Thursday marked the 24th consecutive day that the United States reported more than 100,000 new cases of Covid-19 and the 17th consecutive day that the number of patients in hospital with the virus hit a new record.
There were 110,611 new cases on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and 1,232 new deaths. So far, more than 12.8 million people in the United States have contracted the virus and 263,454 people have died – by far the highest total for any country in the world.
On Thanksgiving, there were 90,481 people hospitalized, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Meanwhile, medical centers warned they were nearing capacity.
With millions of Americans ignoring government recommendations not to travel for the holidays, over a million people passed through airport checkpoints Wednesday alone, according to TSA. data – Health experts have warned that infections and deaths will continue to increase in the coming weeks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts the total death toll could rise to 321,000 in the next four weeks, according to its latest forecast, updated Wednesday.
“I don’t want to be scary but … today it can change the Covid course for our country for the rest of the year,” Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency doctor at Brown University, told CNN on Thursday.
“The infections that occur today will manifest in three weeks and will manifest in deaths over Christmas and New Year and will spread to every state.”
Dr William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, warned of a “rise upon a rise” in the next two weeks, telling the broadcaster, “We are in a difficult time.”
Among the most affected states are North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico, which CDC maps show all seen between 102.8 and 155 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days.
Other states in this range are Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Utah.
Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s foremost expert on infectious diseases, warned that Thanksgiving could mark the start of a dark holiday season and he expects Christmas and the New Year to continue similarly.
“If the spike continues to rise and there are more than 100,000 infections a day and 1,300 deaths a day and the count continues to rise … I don’t see it will be any different during Christmas and the New Year holidays than Thanksgiving,” he said told USA Today.
He said he probably plans to drop any Christmas program, as he did for Thanksgiving, which he spent with his wife away from their three daughters.
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