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News > U.S.

US Death Toll From COVID-19 Nears 250 Thousand

  • People in vehicles are tested with a swab at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site operated by the District of Columbia, with the US Capitol seen in the background, in Washington, DC, USA, 18 November 2020.

    People in vehicles are tested with a swab at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site operated by the District of Columbia, with the US Capitol seen in the background, in Washington, DC, USA, 18 November 2020. | Photo: EFE/EPA

Published 18 November 2020
Opinion

The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States approached 250,000 on Wednesday, the day after the country recorded the highest number of victims in nearly four months, a chilling sign for a healthcare system already struggling to cope.

On Tuesday, the United States recorded 1,596 lives lost to the COVID pandemic, a single-day record since July 27, bringing the total number of deaths to 248,898 since the pandemic began, according to a Reuters tally. For weeks, health officials and healthcare workers have warned that hospitals across the country could soon become overwhelmed, with widespread community transmission of the virus evident in many places.

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“I’m the most concerned I’ve been since this pandemic started,” Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told CNN on Wednesday.

Nationwide, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 topped 75,000 on Tuesday, setting a new record. The Midwest has become the epicenter, reporting almost a half-million cases in the week ending on Monday. In Wisconsin, 90.6% of Intensive Care Unit beds were occupied as of Wednesday, state data showed.

Forty-one U.S. states have reported daily record increases in COVID-19 cases on November, 20 have registered new all-time highs in coronavirus-related deaths from day to day, and 26 have reported new peaks in hospitalizations, according to a Reuters tally of public health data.

Government officials in at least 18 states, representing both sides of the U.S. political divide, have issued sweeping new public health mandates this month. These range from stricter limits on social gatherings and non-essential businesses to new requirements for wearing masks in public places.

Even officials who initially bristled at the government's idea of imposing social restrictions have changed tune as the virus has spread. 

Meanwhile, the same old rhetoric from the Trump administration's failed policies applies at the federal level. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday called the wave of new restrictions an overreach by state and local officials.

“The American people know how to protect their health,” she told Fox News in an interview. “We don’t lose our freedom in this country. We make responsible health decisions as individuals.”
 

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