A long-predicted fall surge of the coronavirus has taken hold of the U.S., with the nation recording more than 69,000 new daily infections late last week and almost 60,000 new cases Tuesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
More than 221,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus, by far the world’s highest death toll. As of Wednesday, more than 8.2 million cases of the virus have been confirmed in the U.S., again more than any other country in the world, according to Johns Hopkins data.
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 over 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.
On Monday, Trump attacked Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a campaign conference call. Trump said people are tired of hearing about the coronavirus, along with Fauci “and all these idiots.”
Trump also said “if you listened to” Fauci, “we’d have 700,000, 800,000 deaths” from the coronavirus.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, has been off the campaign trail this week ahead of Thursday’s second and final debate. His campaign praised Fauci, adding that “Trump’s reckless and negligent leadership threatens to put more lives at risk.”
“Trump is his own worst enemy,” said Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster. “He is basically helping Biden make his case about his response to the pandemic. Dr. Fauci is one of the most popular figures in America, even if Trump’s base doesn’t like him.”
Trump’s ire may have been sparked by Fauci’s interview Sunday on CBS' “60 Minutes,” when the widely respected doctor said he was not surprised that the president had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized for three days. Trump’s wife also tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask,” Fauci said of the president.
Trump launched his attack the same day Fauci was awarded a second citation from the National Academy of Medicine — the first person honored with two — for “outstanding service as a trusted adviser to six presidents” and “firm leadership” in the COVID-19 crisis.
“We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, and I can’t help thinking that we’re really going through a time that’s disturbingly anti-science in certain segments of our society,” Fauci said in a virtual ceremony.
Last week, Fauci said Americans would be wise to limit any planned Thanksgiving travel plans this year, due to risks of spreading the coronavirus.
“You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless you’re pretty certain that the people that you’re dealing with are not infected,” Fauci told “CBS Evening News” last week, adding his children will not visit him for Thanksgiving.
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