US hits grim milestone of 250,000 coronavirus deaths

More than a quarter of a million Americans have died from complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by a coronavirus that is tearing huge holes in states across the country, as health experts warn the death toll could double in the coming months.

NBC News reported that the death toll crossed the 250,000 mark on Wednesday. Other accounts maintained by Johns Hopkins University and the New York Times were slightly lower than that figure.

The United States continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic, accounting for an extremely disproportionate share of cases and deaths even as the virus begins to spread more widely in European countries.

Virtually all indicators in the United States are flashing bright red: the country has registered more than 100,000 new cases every day since the November 3 election. More than 73,000 Americans are treated in hospitals, a record high. Of those, 14,000 are in intensive care units. The number of tests done on any given day is increasing, as is the percentage of those tests that come back positive, a sign that the virus is spreading faster than tests are growing.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” said Kelli Drenner, a public health expert at the University of Houston. “People let their guard down, dilate their bubbles.”

If states were counted individually relative to other nations, 15 of the world’s 20 worst outbreaks per capita would be U.S. states. Eight states – Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Montana – have worse per capita epidemics than any other country in the world. The number of cases increased in 46 states and the District of Columbia on a week-over-week basis.

Fourteen states recorded more than 30,000 new cases last week. Illinois reported the highest number, 85,742. Only three states – Vermont, Maine and Hawaii – saw less than one in a thousand people test positive for the virus last week.

A little over a month later President TrumpDonald John Trump 46% of voters say Trump should immediately concede: Michigan County poll reverses course, votes unanimously to certify election results GOP Senator: Trump should not fire senior government official cybersecurity PLUS needed supplemental oxygen while being treated for the virus, COVID-19 continued to spread through the upper echelons of the U.S. government.

representative Don YoungDonald (Don) Edwin Young Colorado Democrat Ed Perlmutter tests positive for coronavirus Don Young says he was released after hospitalization for COVID-19 Bustos tests positive for COVID-19 PLUS (R-Alaska), the oldest member of the House of Representatives, said he had been hospitalized for treatment for the disease. President of the Senate Pro Tem Chuck grassleyCharles (Chuck) Ernest Grassley Colorado Democrat Ed Perlmutter Tests Positive For Coronavirus On The Money: Trump’s Controversial Fed Candidate Stranded | Economists warn of mismatch between vaccine and recovery | Business group calls for national mask warrant, COVID-19 relief Grassley tests positive for coronavirus PLUS (R-Iowa) is in quarantine after being exposed to someone who had the virus. Several members of Congress and at least one elected member who won the election just weeks ago have tested positive in recent days.

Improvements in the treatment of the disease and a substantial transfer from the most affected populations to the younger generations have meant that the coronavirus death rate has dropped significantly since the early days of the pandemic. But the exponential growth in cases means the death toll is likely to rise in the coming weeks.

“We cannot stop this wave. It’s already happening, ”said Eric Feigl-Ding, senior researcher at the Federation of American Scientists. “Usually, hospitalizations are delayed by about a week and a half, two weeks. Deaths are delayed by three weeks. These deaths have not yet hit us. These deaths will hit us after Thanksgiving and through December. “

The third peak of the coronavirus pandemic is well above the April and July zenith in terms of severity, and it shows no signs of abating.

At the height of the summer spread, Arizona ranked as the state with the worst outbreak, when 380 people per 100,000 population tested positive every week. Today, 23 states have worse epidemics per capita. In North Dakota and South Dakota, more than 1 percent of the population tested positive last week.

Health systems are under increasing strain as doctors and nurses work around the clock to save patients. There is such a shortage of medical professionals in North Dakota that those who have tested positive for the virus but are not showing symptoms are urged to continue working. Officials in El Paso, Texas have ordered refrigerated mortuary trucks to handle the influx of corpses.

“Right now, there are no more traveling nurses or extra traveling doctors. There are not any. Thus, each state is independent. You can add more beds, but it’s not the more beds that limit more, ”Feigl-Ding said.

Studies that show two potential vaccine candidates, created by Pfizer and Moderna, are extremely effective in protecting people from infection have given health experts hope that an end to the pandemic is possible. But they warn there are tough months ahead as Americans travel for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but there is still a significant stretch of tunnel, they said.

Some governors who have hesitated to order public health measures to stem the virus have finally given in. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (right) on Monday ordered a statewide mask warrant in indoor environments; North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (right) issued a mask warrant last Friday; and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (right) has imposed new restrictions on bars and restaurants.

“Right now, the pandemic in Iowa is worse than it has ever been,” Reynolds said in a televised speech Monday. “With the increase we have seen over the past two weeks, our health care system is being pushed to the brink of collapse.

National lockdowns have helped bring the curve down in several European countries which recently adopted new restrictions. Data for Switzerland, Spain and Germany show a better trend after door-to-door orders take effect.

But the appetite for such stricter measures does not exist in the United States. And even though some states have imposed new orders or quarantine requirements, there’s no way to stop interstate travel.

Public health experts fear the coming holiday season will fuel an already out of control fire. Greater transmission is occurring in the intimate circles of family and friends as pandemic fatigue hits the country. The Thanksgiving holiday will see millions of these types of gatherings across the country.

“People tend to trust the people around them. But that’s a case where you just don’t know about the people these people have been with, ”Drenner said. “You are contagious before you have symptoms, so just because I am not showing symptoms today does not mean that I am not infecting you.”