America's deadliest week: COVID fatalities rise by 15,966 in the past seven days - as the total death toll eclipses the number of Americans killed in combat during WWII and daily figures expected to exceed 9/11's for next three months
The US COVID-19 death toll has now surpassed the number of Americans killed during WWII - as the country recorded its deadliest week of the pandemic so far and CDC director Robert Redfield warned deaths could continue to surge for the next three months until a vaccine can be widely distributed.
Deaths rose by nearly 16,000 nationwide last week - an increase of 44 percent compared to the previous seven days, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
A total of 2,768 Americans died yesterday after surging past 3,000 for the first time a day earlier. The average number of deaths reported this week have now surpassed the peak reached at the height of the pandemic last April.
The US death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 292,141, which is higher than the number of Americans - 291,557 - killed in battle during WWII.
Dr Redfield issued a stark warning yesterday saying daily death tolls over the next two to three months would likely exceed the total American lives lost during the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks.
'We are in the time-frame now that probably for the next 60 to 90 days we're going to have more deaths per day than we had at 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor,' Redfield said at a Council on Foreign Relations event.
'The reality is the vaccine approval this week is not going to really impact that, I think, to any degree for the next 60 days.'
A total of 2,768 Americans died yesterday after surging past 3,000 for the first time a day earlier. The average number of deaths reported this week have now surpassed the peak reached at the height of the pandemic last April
In the past seven days, the US set new records in all three metrics that measure the pandemic's severity, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Deaths rose to 15,966 last week, new cases to 1.4million and hospitalizations from C0VID-19 now stand at an all-time high of 107,248 after setting another new record on Thursday
Hospitalizations from C0VID-19 now stand at an all-time high of 107,248, setting another new record on Thursday. Hospitalizations in many Midwestern states are beginning to fall, but they are rising in 26 other states
The last week marked a 27 percent increase in new weekly cases and an 8.8 percent increase in hospitalizations, placing further strain on the country's medical system. Pictured, staff members check up on a patient in the ICU unit in Texas
In addition to record deaths in the last week, the number of hospitalizations and cases have also hit new highs.
More than 1.4 million cases were reported in the last week, which is up from the 1.37 million reported in the previous seven days.
The number of infections yesterday reached 224,452.
Hospitalizations are at an all-time high with 107,248 patients currently being treated for the virus. The number of patients being treated is up 8.8 percent compared to the previous week.
Dr Robert Redfield issued a stark warning yesterday saying daily death tolls over the next two to three months would likely exceed the total American lives lost during the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks
While new cases have started to dip in the Midwest, which originally led this third crest of the outbreak, the Northeast, South, and West are all seeing cases rising steeply.
Hospitalizations in many Midwestern states are also beginning to dip, but they are rising in 26 other states and remain the same in a further 12.
California, Georgia and states along the East coast experienced the worst growth in hospitalizations in the past week.
New Hampshire experienced a 49 percent increase, Delaware a 26 percent increase and Maine a 25 percent jump.
California also reported almost 144,000 new cases this week, more than double the figure in the second highest state, Texas, which had 71.8k new cases.
On Thursday, the US also broke the daily seven-day average for each of the three metrics, although new cases and deaths dropped since Wednesday.
Deaths from COVID-19 are a lagging indicator and can rise weeks after infections and hospitalizations spike because it takes time for people to get sick and die.
The worst affected states for deaths at the moment is Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, CDC data shows. They all reported more than two deaths per 100,000 of population in the past week.
Rhode Island is currently the worst affected in terms of new infections with an average of 125 cases per 100,000 people in the last week.
The tiny Northeastern state is followed by North Dakota 105 cases per 100,000 and Indiana with 101 cases per capita.
According to the COVID Tracking project, Rhode Island is experiencing a troubling rise in cases among the Latino community. More than 1 in 8 Latinx people have tested positive for COVID-19, compared to 1 in 31 white people in the state over the past week.
In South Dakota, Native Americans are also being most effected with 1 in 7 testing positive for COVID-19.
The number of infections yesterday reached 224,452. More than 1.4 million cases were reported in the last week, which is up from the 1.37 million reported in the previous seven days
California reported almost 144,000 new cases this week, more than double the figure in the second highest state, Texas, which had 71.8k new cases. The last week marked a 27 percent increase in new weekly cases nationwide
The South is still seeing the highest climb in new daily cases, jumping 32 percent from last week
Rhode Island has now overtaken South Dakota with the highest average new daily cases per million people
Moving with unprecedented speed, the FDA on Friday was on the cusp of approving emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc with its German partner BioNTech.
'The FDA informed Pfizer that they do intend to proceed towards an authorization for their vaccine,' Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told ABC News on Friday.
'We will work with Pfizer to get that shipped out so we could be seeing people getting vaccinated Monday or Tuesday,' Azar said.
Britain, Bahrain and Canada have already approved the Pfizer vaccine, and the U.S. advisory panel is due to review a second vaccine, from Moderna Inc, next week.
Despite the latest moves to approve a vaccine, a top coronavirus adviser to President-elect Joe Biden delivered a stern holiday message to Americans - 'no Christmas parties' - and warned they face a COVID-19 siege for weeks to come.
'The next three to six weeks at minimum... are our COVID weeks,' Dr. Michael Osterholm told CNN. 'It won't end after that, but that is the period right now where we could have a surge upon a surge upon a surge.'
The rapid increase in coronavirus cases across the country is pushing medical centers to the breaking point and leaving staff members and public health officials burned out and plagued by tears and nightmares. Pictured, paramedics walk into the Goodwin House senior living community center in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday
Testing across the country is increasing but cases are rising at a faster rate. Pictured, testing in Philadelphia on Thursday
It has now been revealed that one in three intensive care units across the country were more than 90 percent full last week. Medical workers transport a patient outside a hospital in New York on Tuesday as cases in the city rise
Hospitalizations from C0VID-19 now stand at an all-time high of 107,248, setting another new record on Thursday. Pictured, patient in the Covid-19 ward at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, earlier this week
The crisis across the country is pushing medical centers to the breaking point and leaving staff members and public health officials burned out and plagued by tears and nightmares.
The Department of Health and Human Services released facility-level data earlier this week from more than 2,000 counties for the first time since the pandemic began, showing that hospital beds are now filling up much more quickly than expected.
It revealed that one in three intensive care units across the country were more than 90 percent full last week, according to a CNN analysis.
What's more, at least 200 hospitals had no more beds available in any unit, which indicates that medical centers in all regions of the US may soon be at their breaking points.
According to CNN, coronavirus patients occupied 19 percent of inpatient beds and 37 percent of ICU beds during the first week of November.
By the first week of December, both these figures increased to 28 percent and 46 percent, respectively.
Another analysis, from the University of Minnesota's COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project, found that hospitals in 126 counties were at least 90 percent full, reported NPR.
The states with the most counties that hit this benchmark were Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas.
It also comes as new data from the Center for Disease Control revealed that true number of COVID-19 cases in the US could be much higher than what current figures show with only one in seven infections believed to have been reported
The latest CDC estimates show there was a possible 52 million COVID-19 infections in the US between February and September. Of the estimated infections, those aged between 18-49 accounted for the largest percentage of cases and symptomatic cases at 56 percent. In terms of hospitalizations, those aged 65 and above accounted for the largest percentage
TIMELINE ON PFIZER VACCINE
November 18: Pfizer announces its vaccine is 94% effective
November 23: Pfizer submits trial data to FDA for emergency approval
December 3: UK approves Pfizer vaccine
December 7: First doses are given in England
December 8: FDA releases preliminary analysis saying vaccine is safe and effective but still doesn't approve it
December 9: Canada approves the vaccine
December 9: Deadliest day for US with 3,045 deaths
December 10: FDA advisory committee meets to discuss the vaccine
The latest CDC estimates show there was a possible 52 million COVID-19 infections in the US between February and September - with about 45 million of those cases being symptomatic.
The estimates, which are created using statistical models, show that only one in seven cases have been counted.
Yet hope came on Thursday when a U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer´s COVID-19 vaccine to help conquer the outbreak.
Depending on how fast the FDA signs off on the panel´s recommendation, shots could begin within days, inaugurating the biggest vaccination campaign in U.S. history.
'This is a light at the end of the long tunnel of this pandemic,' declared Dr. Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In a 17-4 vote with one abstention, the government advisers concluded that the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech appears safe and effective for emergency use in adults and teenagers 16 and over.
That endorsement came despite questions about allergic reactions in two people who received the vaccine earlier this week when Britain became the first country to begin dispensing the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
While there are a number of remaining unknowns about the vaccine, in an emergency, 'the question is whether you know enough' to press ahead, said panel member Dr. Paul Offit of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
He concluded that the potential benefits outweigh the risks.
Pfizer has said it will have about 25 million doses of the two-shot vaccine for the U.S. by the end of December.
But the initial supplies will be reserved primarily for health care workers and nursing home residents, with other vulnerable groups next in line until ramped-up production enables shots to become widely available on demand - something that will probably not happen until the spring.
