Seven-day rolling averages for daily new U.S. coronavirus cases have reached nearly 60,000, the highest levels since July.
According to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, more than 8.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported in the U.S. since the pandemic began, more than any other nation. The U.S. also has the world’s highest coronavirus death toll, standing at more than 221,000.
Globally, more than 41,310,000 confirmed cases have been reported. The world’s death toll stands at more than 1.1 million.
Spain this week became the first country in western Europe to record more than 1 million confirmed infections, as it struggles to contain a resurgence of the new coronavirus. The country of 47 million is among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 34,000 deaths attributed to the disease.
Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming all set seven-day case records Tuesday. New Jersey has seen cases double during the last month.
The latest COVID-19 surges are happening as the Nov. 3 U.S. election approaches, results of which are likely to be interpreted as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.
Nationally recognized health experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue warning Americans to forgo traditional autumn and winter activities such as Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Last week, Fauci said Americans would be wise to limit any planned Thanksgiving travel plans this year, due to risks of spreading the coronavirus.
Hospitals across the United States are starting to buckle from a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, with several states setting records for the number of people hospitalized and leaders scrambling to find extra beds and staff. New highs in cases have been reported in states big and small — from Idaho to Ohio — in recent days.
Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday the United States is seeing a “distressing trend” with COVID-19 cases growing in nearly three-quarters of the country.
“We’re seeing cases increase in really all parts of the country — in the Midwest, particularly — likely in part because people are moving indoors with the arrival of cooler temperatures,” Butler told reporters at a briefing at CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
“Another factor is that smaller, more intimate gatherings of family, friends and neighbors may be driving infections as well, especially as these gatherings move indoors and adherence to face coverings and social distancing may not be optimal.”
Surges in coronavirus cases have led hospitals in Rocky Mountain states to raise concerns as their intensive care bed space dwindles. Utah, Montana and Wyoming have all reported record highs this week for the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19. Seven of 10 intensive care beds were filled in Utah hospitals and about six in 10 in Montana.
In Nevada, where the economy relies heavily on tourism, officials have stressed the need to maintain steady trends to bring back concerts and conventions that employ thousands on the Las Vegas Strip.
When Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, lifted the 50-person cap on gatherings Oct. 1, he said he hoped to ensure safety while “preventing a roller coaster of up-and-down cases that leads to uncertainty for meeting and convention and event planners.”
Now, amid an autumn surge in new cases, Nevada is among seven states with more than 8% of hospital capacity taken up by COVID-19 patients. Due to competing demands, particularly from flu season, 71% of the state’s hospital beds are occupied, the Nevada Hospital Association reported.
State officials worry that hospital beds will fill up if trends continue. Nevada reported 535 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations Wednesday, up 19% from Oct. 1.
“One day is fine and you’re not at the capacity. A week later, you can be bumping up against your capacity for beds and for ICU units. Hospitals can then be teetering on the edge of having to turn patients away. We have to avoid that,” Sisolak said.
In some cases, spikes are happening as schools reopen and as Americans grow weary of wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
Winter is a busy season for hospitals as influenza and other respiratory illnesses ramp up with more people congregating indoors. “I worry a COVID wave that causes a heavy surge on hospitals that are already very busy will further add stress to a system that is exhausted,” said Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at George Mason University.
Coronavirus cases are rising so fast in North Dakota that it’s taking officials up to three days to notify people after they test positive, and as a result the state has fallen way behind on tracing their close contacts who might have been exposed.
Republican Gov. Doug Burgum and the North Dakota Department of Health said they’re shifting 50 National Guard members from contact tracing to simply notifying people who test positive. And public health officials will no longer notify close contacts of people who tested positive; instead people will be instructed to self-notify their close contacts and direct them to the department’s website.
Nebraska began imposing new coronavirus restrictions Wednesday, after the number of people hospitalized remained at a record level of 380 for two straight days and the state reported 11 new deaths from the virus.
During the last week, Nebraska has reported an average of 854 new cases per day, up significantly from two weeks ago when the state was reporting an average 525 cases per day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, deaths were on the rise in some states. Minnesota reported 35 confirmed new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, tying a single-day record set May 28. And the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 31 new deaths, the most confirmed in a 24-hour period since the beginning of the pandemic.
Despite having some of the strictest rules in the country, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has been struggling in recent weeks with a surge in cases and increases in transmission and positivity rates. The governor said she believes the increases are the result of people letting their guard down.
“We don’t have much time,” she said. “If we don’t attack and snuff out the virus right now by working collectively with businesses and each other, then the virus will win, and it leaves us very little opportunity to save lives and to keep our health systems from being overrun.”
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