The United States began 2021 with a gloomy milestone: just hours after the new year, the country exceeded 20 million reported cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, an increase of more than 1 million cases in a single week.
The US maintained its international leadership in number of cases and deaths for months. On Friday, Johns Hopkins reported that more than 346,000 people in the US died of COVID-19.
India ranks second in the world for coronavirus cases. Despite having a population of more than 1 billion people greater than that of the United States, according to the World Bank, it has about half the number of COVID-19 cases and less than half the number of deaths.
More than 83,752,000 people have been infected worldwide.
Several states in the U.S. have overcome 1 million cases in the past two months, and more are about to do so. California became the first to top 2 million cases on December 23, and on Thursday, it became the third state to exceed 25,000 COVID-19 deaths.
California hospitals reported that 1 in 5 COVID-19 tests is positive, and healthcare professionals told CBS News that “it is total chaos”. State hospitals have seen more patients in their 20s or 30s.
Dr. Tirso del Junco Jr., medical director of KPC Health Global Medical Centers, says hospitals are “on the verge of really catastrophic moments. ”
“When you have a lot of patients who are going into cardiac arrest or have coding problems, not everyone can respond to that,” he said. “So they’re having to make a choice. Who do I answer to? Who do I not answer to?”
As states try to manage the sudden increase, a new strain of COVID-19 scientists believe that it is most easily transmitted was detected in the USA. Colorado announced its first case of the strain on Tuesday, and one case was detected in Southern California just a day later. The new strain, called B.1.1.7., Is connected to an outbreak in the UK
Pfizer and Moderna said their vaccines will be effective against the new strain; however, the COVID-19 vaccinations are far below the number promised for the end of 2020. The Trump administration has promised that 20 million people would receive the vaccines before 2021, but by Friday, less than 3 million people in the USA received the vaccination of the 14 million doses sent.