More Americans Died From COVID In A Day Than On 9/11; Hospitals Run Out Of ICU Beds Too

For the first time in the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States reported more than 3,100 deaths in a single day, according to a Washington Post analysis.

It is also the first time that US deaths surpassed the number of Americans killed on 9/11, a frequent comparison for the daily tragedies that the nation faces as government failures to test and contain the coronavirus have resulted in world-leading losses.

AFP

US breaks deaths record for 2nd week in a row

The total death count being between 2,80,000 and 2,90,000 currently, the US is also expected to pass the tragic point of 3,00,000 deaths in the coming week.

This happened just one week after the US broke a daily record for coronavirus deaths, when officials across the country reported 2,885 deaths reported in a single day. It was a milestone because not since the pandemicĄ¯s first peak, in spring, had so many deaths been reported. The high point then was 2,752 deaths, on April 15.

REUTERS

Scarcity of ICU beds

With overtaxed intensive care units running out of beds in many parts of the country, there was also a record number of those hospitalized with covid-19 at 1,06,000 on Wednesday. A new federal data shows that more than a third of Americans now live in areas where hospitals are critically short of intensive care beds.

Hospitals serving more than 100 million Americans had fewer than 15 percent of intensive care beds still available as of last week, a New York Times analysis of government data on hospitals finds.

BCCL

Why the sudden spike?

The expected winter effects on the spread of the virus, plus the increase of travel during the holidays, have caused all coronavirus metrics to spike over the last month. Since December 9, daily cases have almost doubled, hospitalizations have almost doubled, and the seven-day average of deaths has almost tripled, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.

Given the brutal season ahead, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) director Robert Redfield told Americans last week to brace for another 2,00,000 more deaths from the virus by February.

Reuters

The milestones are being toppled as U.S. officials race to approve and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine for Americans. Britain began vaccinating its own citizens this week, and Canada appears near to doing the same.

But things have moved more slowly in a country still mired over a presidential election that took place more than a month ago, with many Republicans refusing to acknowledge the results and some working actively to undo them.

Regardless of the outcome, on Wednesday, a glance at any coronavirus map of the country made one thing clear: With very few exceptions, every state is a red state now.