US COVID-19 cases surpass 20 million as deaths increase

(Reuters) – US coronavirus cases crossed the 20 million mark on Friday as officials try to speed up vaccinations and a more contagious variant emerges in Colorado, California and Florida.

The United States has seen a spike in the daily COVID-19 fatalities since Thanksgiving, with 78,000 lives lost in December. A total of 345,000 have died of COVID-19, or one in 950 residents of the US, since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019. (Image: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)

To slow the death toll, Senator Mitt Romney urged the US government on Friday to enlist veterinarians and fight medics to issue vaccinations against the coronavirus.

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

California has the most cases of 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, down from 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 holiday meetings.

Currently, there are more than 125,000 COVID-19 patients in US hospitals, up 25% in the last month.

While the United States has approved two vaccines, the rollout is slower than the government had hoped. About 2.8 million Americans received a COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 31, falling far short of the 20 million goal.

Despite early setbacks in vaccine rollout, leading American infectious-disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci Wednesday that he expects Americans to achieve sufficient collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations by the fall of 2021.

The government’s target is 100 million shots on March 1.