The United States has surpassed 370,000 coronavirus deaths, with more than 24,000 Americans dying from COVID-19 in the first nine days of 2021.
A total of 370,119 people have died since the start of the pandemic in the US after 1,346 new deaths were reported Saturday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.
So far today, 115,409 new infections have been recorded across the country, bringing the total to 21,978,182 nationwide.
The latest figures are a worrying sign of a boom after the holidays 24,260 deaths and an incredible 2,003,618 new cases have been reported since January 1st.
This week alone, 16 states reported their highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and California experienced the deadliest day.
The state reported 695 new deaths on Saturday, a day after Los Angeles reported its highest daily death toll of 318.
This week, 16 states reported their highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Pictured are patients being rushed to LAC USC Hospital ER in an emergency
According to the Department of Health, there were more than 52,000 new infections in California on Saturday afternoon.
Hospitals in the state are still struggling with an increase in virus patients and doctors fear that the worst of the rise after the holidays is yet to come.
‘It takes two to three weeks before patients become ill to need the hospital after contracting the virus. Christmas was only two weeks ago, and we are already full, ‘said dr. Anish Mahajan, chief medical officer at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, told CNN.
Records were again set for the average of seven days for cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the US with deaths rising to an average of 2,934.
Of the 310,080 new cases reported Friday, 50,000 were in California and 20,000 in New Jersey, according to the COVID tracking project.
Friday’s increase in cases means that 44 states reported at least 500 COVID-19 cases per million people.
New Jersey rose again on Friday, recording 2,694 infections per million residents.
This is followed by Kansas with 1,889 cases per million people and Arizona with 1,602 infections per million people.
Arizona has also surpassed its summer boom in hospitalizations with patients increasing at an alarming rate.
On Wednesday, health experts named Arizona as the new global coronavirus hotspot as the outbreak of the state took another turn in Arizona.
The state now leads the country with the highest COVID-19 diagnosis rate.
Since December 31, one in every 111 Arizonans has been diagnosed with the virus.
The rise of new cases took place on Friday when dr. Deborah Birx warned that the US could have its own mutant strain COVID-19, just like Britain, because the virus spreads so fast.
The United States broke a record for the highest new cases of COVID-19 in one day on Friday, as California and New Jersey experienced a tremendous one-day boom, pictured second from left
Sixteen states recorded their highest number of hospitalizations this week
Hospitalizations are rising, especially in Arizona and California, with alarming rates
Birx, who announced before Christmas that she would retire when Joe Biden took office after being left red-handed for ignoring COVID guidelines during the holidays, made the analysis at a recent meeting of the Coronavirus task force of the Withuis.
She presented a series of graphs and diagrams, officials said, showing a serious increase in business.
Birx speculates that this may be because a new, more contagious variant of the virus is circulating, in the same way that Britain was shaken by the new B.1.1.7 strain.
Her concerns stemmed from the weekly report sent to state governors, which was leaked on Friday.
“This fall / winter surge has almost twice the increase in cases as spring and summer rise,” the report said.
‘This acceleration suggests that there may be a US variant that has developed here, in addition to the British variant that is already spreading in our communities and which is 50% more transferable.
“Aggressive mitigation should be used to match a more aggressive virus.”
Nationwide, there have been more than 21.8 million coronavirus-infected and 368,679 deaths since the pandemic began.