US Surpasses 12 Million COVID-19 Cases Before Vacation | United States and Canada



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The United States has recorded more than 12 million cases of COVID-19, as public health experts continue to warn people to heed a warning not to travel to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

As of Saturday afternoon, the United States has reported over 12.09 million coronavirus cases and over 255,000 deaths, the highest total for any country in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States has seen an increase in new infections and hospitalizations in recent weeks, as colder weather forces more people to stay indoors.

Authorities in several states have warned that health systems could soon be overwhelmed as hospitalizations have more than doubled since the summer months. As of Friday, more than 82,000 people were in hospital with the disease, the COVID Tracking Project said.

As Thanksgiving on November 26 approaches, state and national officials have increasingly warned against travel.

On Saturday, seven governors from Midwestern states – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan – released a joint video message urging residents to heed public health advice and not to celebrate Thanksgiving with people outside the their families.

On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a “strong recommendation” to stay home on Thursday.

The agency has discouraged any encounters with people who haven’t lived in the same family for 14 days – the virus incubation period.

However, many people seem to ignore this advice.

Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein tweeted that Friday was only the second time since the start of the pandemic that more than one million travelers have been screened at airports across the country.

A number of new restrictions have been put in place to respond to the wave of COVID-19 cases.

On Saturday, California will begin imposing a curfew between 10pm and 5am local time (6am and 1pm GMT), while New York City closed schools for 1.1 million students at the start. of this week. Chicago, the country’s third largest city, has been ordered for those staying home since Monday.

The Associated Press news agency reported Saturday that Republican lawmakers in states where the virus is on the rise, including Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, are resisting regulations requiring them to wear masks in their government buildings.

Nearly 200 lawmakers nationwide have tested positive for COVID-19, and four have died since the start of the pandemic, the news agency said.

The infections also continue to affect President Donald Trump’s inner circle, with his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who announced Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and was in quarantine.

The Trump administration has been heavily criticized for its response to the pandemic.

On Monday, President-elect Joe Biden expressed frustration at Trump’s refusal to cooperate in the White House transition process, saying “more people could die” of COVID-19 without immediate coordination to fight the virus.

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