More than 38,000 Americans died in the first two weeks of the new year because of Covid-19.
According to an ensemble forecast released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another 92,000 are expected to die from the virus over roughly the next three weeks.
The numbers are frightening and represent what public health experts have consistently warned: while the end is in sight, the nation is still facing tough times ahead with the aid of continuing Covid-19 vaccinations.
According to data from the COVID Tracking Project, there are currently more than 130,300 people hospitalised with the virus.
Officials in Pennsylvania said the number of hospitalizations is approaching twice the rate recorded in spring. Earlier this week, the governor of Louisiana said the state was experiencing a “huge spike” in infections and hospitalizations. And officials in Arizona announced record high Covid-19 hospitalisation and ICU numbers on Tuesday.
Every single day, hundreds of thousands of infections are added to the country’s tally, with the US adding more than three million new infections reported since the start of the month.
According to data published by county officials, about one out of three residents in Los Angeles County has been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic. Outbreaks have increased both across workplaces, schools and even day care settings.
Echoing other leaders’ warnings, the LA officials added they have “not yet fully seen the effect of transmission in the period from around Christmas to New Years.”
And with all eyes now turned toward the nation’s capital ahead of Inauguration Day, there have never been more cases in Washington DC. It’s averaging more than 320 new cases every day right now — about a 38 percent jump from the previous week. Since the start of the pandemic, DC has reported a total of more than 32,600 Covid-19 instances, about 10 percent of which were added in 2021.
