U.S. COVID-19 cases surpass 20 million as deaths rise

(Reuters) – U.S. coronavirus cases crossed the 20 million mark on Friday as officials seek to speed up vaccinations and a more infectious variant surfaced in Colorado, California and Florida.

The United States has seen an increase in the number of daily COVID-19 deaths since Thanksgiving with 78,000 lives lost in December. A total of 345,000 have died from COVID-19, or one in 950 U.S. residents, since the virus first emerged in China at the end of 2019 (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)

To slow the death toll, Senator Mitt Romney on Friday urged the US government to enlist veterinarians and combat medics to distribute vaccines against the coronavirus.

The U.S. rate of new COVID-19 infections increased in the second half of last year. Analysis of Reuters data shows it took 200 days to reach the first 5 million cases, 93 days to go from 5 million cases to 10 million, 31 days from 10 million to 15 million cases and just 25 days to go from 15 million to 20 million cases.

California has the most cases of any state, with about 2.28 million infections, followed by Texas with 1.76 million cases and Florida with 1.32 million cases.

The United States averages 186,000 cases per day, up from a peak in mid-December of more than 218,000 new infections per day. Health officials have warned that cases will likely increase again after the holiday gatherings.

Currently, there are more than 125,000 patients with COVID-19 in US hospitals, up 25% last month.

While the United States has approved two vaccines, the rollout is proceeding more slowly than the government had hoped. About 2.8 million Americans received a COVID-19 vaccine by December 31, well below a target of 20 million.

Despite early setbacks in vaccine deployment, Dr.Anthony Fauci, a U.S. infectious disease specialist, said on Wednesday that he expected Americans to achieve sufficient herd immunity against COVID-19 through vaccinations of ‘by fall 2021.

The government’s target is 100 million shots by March 1.