US COVID-19 cases exceed 20 million as deaths increase

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(Reuters) – Coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed the 20 million mark on Friday, as officials seek to speed up vaccinations and a more infectious variant of surfaces in Colorado, California and Florida.

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Tanna Ingraham places a sheet over the body of a patient who died inside the coronavirus disease unit (COVID-19) at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, December 30, 2020. REUTERS / Callaghan O ‘Hare / Photo file

The United States has seen an increase in the number of daily deaths from COVID-19 since Thanksgiving, with 78,000 lives lost in December. A total of 345,000 died of COVID-19, or one in 950 US residents, since the virus first appeared in China in late 2019. (Graph: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)

To decrease the death toll, Senator Mitt Romney on Friday urged the US government to recruit veterinarians and combat doctors to distribute coronavirus vaccines.

The rate of new COVID-19 infections in the United States increased in the second half of last year. An analysis of Reuters data shows that it took 200 days to reach the first 5 million cases, 93 days to go from 5 million to 10 million, 31 days from 10 million to 15 million cases and just 25 days to go from 15 million for 20 million cases.

California has the highest number of cases in any state, with about 2.28 million infections, followed by Texas with 1.76 million cases and Florida with 1.32 million cases.

The United States has an average of 186,000 cases per day, below a peak in mid-December of more than 218,000 new infections per day. Health officials have warned that cases are likely to increase again after the holidays.

There are currently more than 125,000 COVID-19 patients in US hospitals, an increase of 25% over the past month.

Although the United States has approved two vaccines, implantation is proceeding more slowly than the government expected. About 2.8 million Americans received a COVID-19 vaccine on December 31, well below the target of 20 million.

Despite the setbacks in the vaccine’s launch, the leading infectious disease specialist in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Wednesday that he expects Americans to achieve sufficient collective immunity for COVID-19 through vaccinations by the fall of 2021.

The government’s target is 100 million gunfire by March 1.

Reporting by Anurag Maan and Kavya B in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker

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