US Coronavirus: Hospitals had more than 100,000 coronavirus patients every day for 32 days

US Coronavirus: Hospitals had more than 100,000 coronavirus patients every day for 32 days

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At least 123,639 people across the country were in hospital with coronavirus on Saturday, marking 32 consecutive days that the number of admissions exceeded 100,000, according to the Covid tracking project.

Cases skyrocketed after Thanksgiving, and the impacts of Christmas and New Year celebrations are still occurring. On Saturday, more than 20.4 million people were infected with the virus in the United States and at least 350,186 people died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And health experts worry about what will happen to those numbers if infections continue to spread.

“This is about the total collapse of the healthcare system if we have another peak,” said Dr. Brad Spellberg, medical director at the University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles County. “And we, in the hospital, cannot prevent this. We can only react to that. It is the public that has the power to prevent the spread of the virus, obeying the public health guidelines that have been released.”

In California, emergency room workers said hospitals are treating an unprecedented number of patients with coronavirus.

Specialists in the design and construction of the US Army Corps of Engineers have been dispatched to the Los Angeles area to “evaluate and, where necessary, update oxygen delivery systems” in about half a dozen hospitals.

A hospital in the area converted administrative offices and rest rooms into treatment areas for its coronavirus patients, said Col. Julie Balten, Los Angeles District commander for the Corps of Engineers.

4 million vaccines administered

Although the distribution of vaccines against the coronavirus is currently limited to health professionals and long-term patients, the authorities hope that the number of cases and hospitalizations will eventually be reduced by vaccinations.

As of Saturday morning, more than 4.2 million doses were administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
California hospitals stressed 'on the brink of catastrophe' by increased coronavirus
This includes doses of the Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines. In total, more than 13 million doses have been distributed, said CDC Covid Data Tracker.
Despite some delays, the distribution and distribution of vaccines is working well, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Immunization Managers Association.

“We have a small delay in the doses administered, so this occurs a few days after they are administered. I don’t see this as a major system failure, ”she said. “We are simply not seeing the vaccine go into arms so quickly. But the infrastructure we have set up, I think is working.”

So far, vaccines approved in the U.S. require two doses based on a few weeks apart – and the U.S. will continue to do so, rather than following the UK’s decision to potentially delay second doses, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday.

The United Kingdom has adopted this strategy in order to give the first dose to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, saying that it offers some protection.

“We make decisions based on data. We have no data on how to give a single dose and wait longer than the normal amount of time ”to give the second dose, said Fauci.

A difficult start for the new year

While Americans called in the new year, nearly 11,000 families mourned the loss of a loved one to Covid-19.

At least 10,901 Covid-19 deaths 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 in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
In less than 11 months, Covid-19 killed more than 349,000 people in the United States. And another 115,000 Americans could die from the disease next month, according to projections from the University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment.

Arkansas reported more than 4,300 new cases on Friday.

US surpasses 20 million Covid-19 cases, while experts predict difficult times in January
“This is a record in newly reported cases. We are certainly on the rise after Christmas travels and meetings,” Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson tweeted. “As we enter this new year, our first resolution must be to follow the guidelines. We must all do our part.”

Texas health officials reported a record number of hospitalizations for Covid-19 across the state for the fifth consecutive day, with more than 12,400 patients.

And Georgia announced a new record of 8,769 new cases of Covid-19 in the state on Friday.

Governor Brian Kemp said the Georgia World Congress Center convention center in downtown Atlanta has been transformed into a crowded hospital.

New York added nearly 16,500 new cases on Friday, just a day after reaching its highest number of cases in a day.

“In early 2021, I encourage all New Yorkers to look to their best angels and continue the practices we know to prevent the spread of this virus – wash your hands, distance yourself socially and wear a mask,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo in a statement.

CNN’s Chuck Johnston, Virginia Langmaid, Paul Vercammen, Holly Yan and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.

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