The U.S. hit a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations Tuesday, with more than 61,960 people, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
On Wednesday morning, Tennessee was reporting fewer than 200 ICU beds available across the Volunteer State.
On Wednesday, Texas became the first state to record 1 million coronavirus cases, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
California has the second-highest number of cases in the nation, with 989,432. Georgia’s case total as of late Tuesday afternoon was 376,054, with 32,631 hospitalizations.
On Monday, the U.S. surpassed 10 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the same day President-elect Joe Biden urged all Americans to wear a mask in an effort to contain the pandemic’s spread.
Johns Hopkins University has been tracking the pandemic’s spread over the globe. New daily confirmed cases are up more than 60% during the last two weeks, to an average of nearly 109,000 a day. Average daily cases are on the rise in 48 states.
The U.S. accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s more than 51 million confirmed cases. U.S. coronavirus deaths are up 18% during the last two weeks, averaging 939 every day. The virus has now killed more than 239,000 Americans.
“The virus is spreading in a largely uncontrolled fashion across the vast majority of the country,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.
Governors are making increasingly desperate pleas for people to take the fight against the virus more seriously.
In an unusual prime-time speech hours after Wisconsin set records for infections and deaths, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced he was advising people to stay in their houses and businesses to allow people to work remotely, require masks and limit the number of people in stores and offices.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m., and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, said she will require masks at indoor gatherings of 25 or more people, inching toward more stringent measures after months of holding out.
While deaths are still well below the U.S. peak of about 2,200 per day in April, some researchers estimate the nation’s overall toll will hit about 400,000 by Feb. 1.
Doctors now better know how to treat severe cases, meaning higher percentages of the COVID-19 patients who go into intensive care units are coming out alive. Patients have the benefit of new treatments, namely remdesivir, the steroid dexamethasone and an antibody drug that won emergency-use approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. Also, testing is more widely available.
In addition, a vaccine appears to be on the horizon, perhaps near the end of the year, with Pfizer this week reporting early results showing that its experimental shots are 90% effective at preventing the disease.
On Monday, Biden announced a set of medical advisers who are charged carrying out a detailed coronavirus plan some experts believe includes measures necessary to bring the surge under control.
Biden pledged during the campaign to be guided by science, make testing free and widely available, hire thousands of health workers to undertake contact tracing and instruct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide clear, expert advice.
While the first surge in the Northeast caught many Americans unprepared and cut an especially deadly swath through nursing homes, the second crest along the nation’s Southern and Western rim was attributed mostly to heedless behavior, particularly among young adults over Memorial Day and July Fourth, and hot weather that sent people indoors, where the virus spreads more easily.
The fall surge similarly has been blamed largely on cold weather driving people inside and disdain for masks and social distancing.
The short-term outlook is grim, with colder weather and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s ahead. On Monday, the Atlanta-based CDC announced new guidelines for Thanksgiving holiday celebrations.
Other factors could contribute to the spread of the virus in the coming weeks: Last weekend saw big street celebrations and protests over the election. On Saturday night, an upset victory by Notre Dame’s football team sent thousands of students swarming onto the field, many without masks.
Experts are increasingly alarmed about the virus’ resurgence in places such as Massachusetts, which has seen a dramatic rise in cases since Labor Day, blamed largely on young people socializing.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is warning the health care system could become overwhelmed this winter, and he recently ordered restaurants to stop table service, required many businesses to close by 9:30 p.m. and instructed residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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