The United States surpassed 22 million cases of coronavirus on Friday and set a record number of new cases in a single day, according to the NBC News count.
The records arrive as cases and deaths reach new peaks in the UK, after a mutant strain of Covid-19 was detected there. At least 50 cases of the most contagious variant have been identified so far in the USA
The US reported 269,420 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, a new record. Two states also set new daily highs: Maine with 41 deaths and New York with 18,687 cases.
There were more than 369,000 deaths in the United States
As cases and deaths increase, American scientists are working 24 hours a day to determine how widespread the UK variant is. Since the strain was discovered last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pledged to increase genetic sequencing in the U.S., which is necessary to find new strains.
A CDC spokesman said the agency is working with state health officials and academic and public health laboratories to double the number of samples sequenced each week.
In the UK, tension is pushing hospitals to the limit.
“Our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid-19 than at any time since the start of the pandemic,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Paramedic Ben Schischa said the situation had become “completely crazy” and that the number of people confirmed or suspected of having Covid-19 “exploded exponentially” compared to a week or two ago.
Schischa has been at the forefront of the pandemic since March and said he saw patients wait hours in ambulances until a hospital had enough space for them.
“This is just one example of what is happening at the moment. And it is the same everywhere – London, Kent, Essex,” said Schischa, referring to the counties in south-east England that are among the hardest hit. “It has become like a war zone again.”
The virus killed more than 76,000 people in the UK, the worst number of deaths in Europe and the fifth worst in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
