Hospitals across the United States are catching up with the rise of Covid-19 patients on a number they have never seen in the pandemic.
Hospitals across the United States are catching up with the rise of Covid-19 patients on a number they have never seen in the pandemic.
At least 123,639 people nationwide were hospitalized with coronavirus on Saturday, indicating 32 days in a row that the number of hospitalizations is more than 100,000, according to the Covid tracking project.
Business has skyrocketed after the Thanksgiving holiday, and the effects of Christmas and New Year’s celebrations are still unfolding. According to Johns Hopkins University data, more than 20.4 million people have been infected with the virus since Saturday and at least 350,186 people have died. And health experts are worried about what will happen to the numbers if infections continue to spread.
“It’s about a total collapse of the health care system if we have another increase,” said Dr. Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at Los Angeles County University of Southern California, said. “And we in the hospital can not stop it. We can only respond to that. It is the public that has the power to stop the spread of this virus by complying with the public health guidelines that have been issued. ”
In California, emergency officials said hospitals are treating an unprecedented number of coronavirus patients.
Design and construction experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been deployed to the Los Angeles area to “evaluate oxygen delivery systems and upgrade them where necessary” at about half a dozen hospitals.
One area hospital converted administrative offices and converted rooms into treatment areas for their coronavirus patients, Col said. Julie Balten, Los Angeles District Commander for the Corps of Engineers, said.
4 million vaccines administered
Although the spread of coronavirus vaccines is currently limited to healthcare workers and long-term care patients, officials hope that the number of cases and hospitalizations will eventually be reduced by the vaccinations.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 4.2 million doses were administered in the United States on Saturday morning.
It contains doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines. In total, more than 13 million doses were distributed, the CDC Covid Data Tracker said.
Despite some delays, the allocation and distribution of the vaccines are working well, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers.
‘We have a slight delay in the doses administered, so it comes a few days after it is delivered. “I do not see this as a major system error,” she said. ‘We just do not see the vaccine in the arms so quickly. But the infrastructure we have set up works in my opinion. ”
So far, the vaccines approved in the US require two doses based on a few weeks apart – and the US will do so, rather than following the British decision to delay the second dose, possibly. dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday.
The UK has adopted the strategy of giving as many people as possible the first dose as soon as possible, saying it offers some protection.
‘We make decisions based on data. We have no data to give a single dose and wait longer than the normal period to give the second dose, Fauci said.
A difficult start to the new year
While Americans called in the new year, nearly 11,000 families mourned the new loss of a loved one to Covid-19.
At least 10,901 deaths in Covid-19 have been reported in the last three days of 2020, according to Johns Hopkins University. That’s about 3,633 deaths a day – more than the number of lives lost during the terrorist attacks in the US.
In less than 11 months, Covid-19 killed more than 349,000 people in the US. And according to projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 115,000 Americans could die from the disease in the next month.
Arkansas reported more than 4,300 new cases Friday.
‘This is a record in newly reported cases. We are definitely in the throes of Christmas travel and gatherings, ” Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson tweeted. ‘When we enter this new year, our first decision must be to follow guidelines. We must all do our part. ”
Texas health officials have reported record-high Covid-19 hospitalizations across the state for the fifth day in a row, with more than 12,400 patients.
And Georgia on Friday announced a new record high of 8,769 new Covid-19 cases in the state.
Government Brian Kemp said the Georgia World Congress Center conference center in downtown Atlanta has been turned into an overflow hospital.
New York added nearly 16,500 new cases on Friday, just a day after it achieved its highest one-day case ever.
“When we start in 2021, I urge all New Yorkers to look after their better angels and continue the practices we know, to stop the spread of this virus. Wash your hands, take social distance and carry on.” a mask, “Andrew Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.