The US has kicked off 2021 with a stark milestone: Within hours of the New Year, the country surpassed 20 million reported coronavirus cases, an increase of more than 1 million cases in one week, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The US has maintained the international lead for the number of cases and deaths for months. On Friday, Johns Hopkins reported that more than 346,000 people in the US have died COVID-19.
India ranks second in the world for coronavirus cases. Despite having a population of more than 1 billion people larger than the US, it accounts for about half the number of COVID-19 cases and less than half the number of deaths, according to the World Bank.
Worldwide, more than 83,752,000 people are infected.
Several states in the US have surpassed 1 million cases in the past two months, and more are on the cusp of doing so. California became the first with 2 million cases on December 23 and became the third state on Thursday more than 25,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Hospitals in California have reported that 1 in 5 COVID-19 tests return positive, and health professionals have told CBS News that “it’s just total chaos.” Hospitals in the state have seen more patients who are in their 20s and 30s.
Dr. Tirso del Junco, Jr., Chief Medical Officer at KPC Health Global Medical Centers, says hospitals are “on the cusp of truly catastrophic moments. ”
“If you have multiple patients who go into cardiac arrest or code blues, not everyone can respond to that,” he said. So they have to make a choice. Who am I responding to? Who am I not responding to? ‘
While states try to control the wave, a new strain COVID-19 Scientists believe it is more easily transmitted has been detected in the U.S. Colorado announced its first case of the strain on Tuesday, and a case was discovered in Southern California a day later. The new strain, called B.1.1.7., Is connected to a wave in the UK
Pfizer and Moderna have both said their vaccines will be effective against the new strain; However, COVID-19 vaccinations are well below the number promised by the end of 2020. The Trump administration had promised that 20 million people would receive vaccinations before 2021, but as of Friday less than 3 million people in the US have received a vaccination of the 14 million doses sent.