COVID-19 hospitalizations on Thanksgiving Day surge past 90k for the first time amid the pandemic as the CDC forecasts another 57k deaths in the next three WEEKS and Dr. Fauci warns the US is in for a 'dark few weeks'

The number of people hospitalized across the United States with COVID-19 surged past 90,000 on Thanksgiving Day for the first time amid the pandemic as the CDC warned the country could see another 57,000 deaths in the next three weeks.  

As the coronavirus pandemic loomed over the Thanksgiving holiday, hospitalizations reached a record 90,481 yesterday after consistently setting new highs for the past five weeks. 

Doctors and health officials fear the US is in for a dark few weeks with cases and deaths expected to worsen due to holiday gatherings and travel. 

The seven-day rolling average for deaths is currently just over 1,600 and the average daily infections are at 174,000.

Currently, 120 Americans are being infected every minute and 70 are dying each hour across the country.  

On Thanksgiving Day, the US recorded a total of 110,611 new cases and 1,232 deaths. The figures are considerably lower than previous days in the past week, which is down to a lag in reporting due to the holiday.

The CDC's latest forecast is predicting a total of 294,000 to 321,000 COVID-19 deaths by December 19. In that week alone, there is forecast to be up 21,000 deaths reported. The agency creates its forecast using predictions from 36 modeling groups across the country.   

As the coronavirus pandemic loomed over the Thanksgiving holiday, hospitalizations reached a record 90,481 yesterday after consistently setting new highs for the past five weeks

With already overwhelmed hospitals nearing capacity in some states, health officials fear the weeks after Thanksgiving will be grim with cases, hospitalizations and deaths forecast to surge even higher.  

Dr Anthony Fauci, who was among those warning people to avoid travel and keep celebrations small, fears that Thanksgiving will only be the start of a dark holiday period if cases and deaths continue to surge. 

'If the surge takes a turn of continuing to go up and you have the sustained greater than 100,000 infections a day and 1,300 deaths per day and the count keeps going up and up... I don't see it being any different during the Christmas and New Year's holidays than during Thanksgiving,' Fauci told USA Today.

Despite repeated dire warnings from the CDC and public health officials urging people not to travel for Thanksgiving, millions took to the skies and set records for the largest crowds since the COVID-19 crisis took hold in March. 

With cases, hospitalizations and deaths already skyrocketing across the US, health officials are warning the worst is yet to come given the true impact of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings won't be seen for a few weeks. 

Dr Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University told CNN that Thanksgiving Day could 'change the course of COVID for our country for the rest of the year'.

'Infections that are sustained (on Thanksgiving) are going to show up in three weeks and are going to show up in deaths over Christmas and New Year's and are going to spread in every state.' 

The seven-day rolling average for deaths is currently just over 1,600. On Thanksgiving Day, the US recorded 1,232 deaths

The seven-day rolling average for infections is now at 174,000. On Thanksgiving Day, the US recorded a total of 110,611 new cases

The CDC's latest forecast is predicting a total of 294,000 to 321,000 COVID-19 deaths by December 19. In that week alone, there is forecast to be up 21,000 deaths reported. The agency creates its forecast using predictions from 36 modeling groups across the country

Health officials have been warning for weeks that deaths, which are a lagging indicator, will increase after the number of cases and hospitalizations started surging in late September. 

Dr Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, told CNN that daily deaths are likely to increase in the coming days. 

'When you look at people who are hospitalized today, they were infected two weeks ago, maybe more. So, it takes about five to seven days to become symptomatic,' he said. 

'Usually, it takes about another week to be sick enough to be hospitalized so that's two weeks at least, and then it takes usually another week for folks to succumb to the illness.

'I expect that the daily death rate will double in the next 10 days.

While COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are spiking nationally, the Midwest - encompassing a dozen states between Ohio and the Dakotas - has been especially brutalized. 

Midwest states continue to be among the hardest hit in the country based on cases and deaths per 100,000 people. 

As of today, North Dakota is still the worst affected with 155 cases per 100,000 people in the last week, CDC data shows. Wyoming follows with 136 cases, New Mexico with 127 cases, South Dakota with 122 and Minnesota with 117 cases per capita. 

The worst affected states for deaths per capita are South Dakota with 2.9 deaths per 100,000 residents in the last seven days. North Dakota follows with 1.9 deaths and Wyoming with 1.2 fatalities. 

Dr Joseph Varon eats a meal in the nursing station in the COVID-19 intensive care unit during Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas yesterday

Medical staff members close the zipper of a body bag that contains a dead COVID-19 patient's body in the intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas

After pounding big cities in the spring and summer, health workers in heartland areas now say COVID-19 now has engulfed rural and small-town America.

According to Reuters' interviews with more than a dozen medical care providers and public health officials in the nation's heartland, many hospitals are severely lacking in beds, equipment and - most critically - clinical staff, including specialists and nurses. 

Hospital officials in the Midwest told Reuters they're at capacity or nearly so. Most have tried to increase availability by repurposing wings or cramming multiple patients in a single room, and by asking staffers to work longer hours and more frequent shifts.

As cases spike in many conservative states and counties, medical workers say they often face a challenge just in convincing patients and local leaders that the disease should be taken seriously. 

All told, COVID-19 has claimed more than 263,000 lives in the United States. The virus' mortality rate has dropped as doctors have learned more about the disease.

Vaccines developed by Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc and others could by widely available for Americans early next year. 

With cases, hospitalizations and deaths already skyrocketing across the US, health officials are warning the worst is yet to come given the true impact of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings won't be seen for a few weeks like with other holidays 

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: Airline passengers are seen at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport on the eve of Thanksgiving

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Passengers line up to go through a security checkpoint at Salt Lake City International Airportahead of Thanksgiving

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In the meantime, smaller hospitals say they are employing the same drugs - such as remdesivir and dexamethasone - that big-city facilities do but they just don't have the same access to ICU equipment or specialized expertise. 

With low temperatures sending people indoors and holiday travel underway, doctors in the region aren’t expecting relief anytime soon. 

Dr Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas said his hospital is already full and he expects cases and hospitalizations to surge even higher after Thanksgiving. 

'My concerns for the next six to 12 weeks is that if we don't do things right, America is going to see the darkest days in modern American medical history,' Varon told CNN.  

'My hospital is full. I just opened two new wings so that I can accommodate for the next few days, because I know that a lot of people are going to get sick after Thanksgiving.'