United States surpassed 20 million coronavirus cases

The United States surpassed 20 million cumulative coronavirus cases on Friday and recorded a new record of hospitalizations for the fourth day in a row, hours after entering the country in 2021 and left the deadliest month in the pandemic behind.

In total, the country had 20,043,565 infections and 346,894 deaths from Covid-19, according to the updated count from Johns Hopkins University.

The country hardest hit by the coronavirus in the past 24 hours has added 221,444 confirmed cases and 3,255 deaths, according to a specialized portal which keeps the national count and despite the fact that the authorities had warned of the low number of tests or the delay in results due to the holidays.

December was the worst month of the pandemic in the United States, both in terms of infections and deaths and hospitalizations. Either way, the peaks of April – when New York and neighboring states collapsed – and mid-year, when the epidemic spread across much of southern and western Canada. countries were overtaken.

However, experts have warned that the numbers could rise even more across the country in the coming weeks, following meetings and travel for the holiday season.

Faced with this situation, senior government epidemiologist Anthony Fauci said the Covid-19 vaccine may become mandatory for traveling to other countries or going to school.

“Everything will be on the table for discussion,” the expert, who will be the chief medical adviser to President-elect Joe Biden from January 20, told Newsweek.

“I’m not sure it’s mandatory from the point of view of the central government,” he said, adding that he was “sure” that some individual institutions will require the injection, while in schools the decision would be taken at state or municipal level.

Regarding travel, Fauci said the United States could potentially issue Covid-19 vaccine passports, similar to those raised by Israel, which would allow residents to travel abroad without needing to be tested for the coronavirus.

At the moment, vaccination is progressing slowly in the country, where 3.2 million people have already been vaccinated with the first dose, according to a Bloomberg count.

This afternoon, more than 125,300 people were admitted to the United States for coronavirus, the highest number since the pandemic reached the country, according to the specialized local portal The Covid Tracking Project, cited by the news agency. ANSA.

One of the main concerns was the state of California, where not only is the trend of cases, deaths and hospitalizations on the rise, but more infections with the new strain discovered just a few days ago in England and feared by the world generally because it is easier to transmit.

The rise in hospitalizations in Los Angeles County, the state’s most populous, is pushing hospitals “on the brink of disaster,” said Dr Christina Ghaly, director of local health services.

Against this backdrop, the state already has refrigerated trucks ready in case its morgues collapse and some hospitals have already reported that they need to locate patients in hallways, lobbies and even in their confectioneries, according to CNN.

Also in neighboring Arizona, state health officials have warned the number of new cases continues to rise, as do the number of hospitalizations and deaths.

While in the southeastern state of Georgia, where the daily number of people hospitalized has doubled since mid-November, a convention center in the city of Atlanta was again in use today as a hospital for campaign, the third time since the start of the epidemic, before the start of the epidemic. the advancement of the disease.

The beds at the convention center “will help ensure that our hospitals continue to have the capacity they need for patients with and without Covid-19,” Republican Governor Brian Kemp said.