US could soon see the highest number of Covid-19 cases ever on a daily basis, surgeon general says
CNN)The number of Covid-19 cases reported across the country is rising so fast that US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams warns it could be the worst week since the pandemic began.
"This week, we will probably have our highest number of cases that we've ever had on a daily basis in the United States," Adams said Friday at the Meridian Global Leadership Summit on Global Health Diplomacy.
More than 70,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the US for the first time in the past three months on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Thursday was the highest day for new infections since July 24 and the day with the fourth highest total ever, at 71,671. Thirty-two states reported rising Covid-19 infections, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
So far on Friday, there have been 50,852 new cases, Johns Hopkins says.Adams
cautioned that hospitalizations are starting to go up in 75% of the
jurisdictions across the country and officials are concerned that in a
few weeks, deaths will also start to increase.The
good news, Adams said, is that the mortality rate in the country has
decreased by about 85% thanks to multiple factors, including the use of
remdesivir, steroids and better management of Covid-19 patients.More
than 41,000 people were hospitalized across the country, according to
the Covid Tracking Project. This is the highest level of nationwide
hospitalizations since Aug 20.The number of people hospitalized has increased by 33% since the beginning of October, the CTP says. Deaths
are also creeping upward, with 856 on Thursday, Johns Hopkins says. The
7-day average of deaths continues to climb and is up to 763. That is
the highest level of average weekly deaths in a month. In
White House coronavirus task force reports obtained by CNN this week,
officials say there are "early signs of deterioration in the Sun Belt
and continued deterioration in the Midwest and across the Northern
States." And more state leaders have sounded the alarm on increasing
infections, hospitalizations and deaths.