US sets daily record for coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations top 100K

The US has reported more deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday than in any other single day during the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

According to Johns Hopkins’ figures, local health officials reported 3,157 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, shattering the previous record of 2,607 set in April.

The marker comes as CDC Director Robert Redfield warned on Wednesday that the US could see an additional 180,000 coronavirus-related deaths between today and the end of January — an average of at least 3,000 a day.

Meanwhile, coronavirus hospitalizations in the US topped 100,000 on Wednesday according to the COVID Tracking Project, a mark that is well above the spring and summer surges of the coronavirus. Nearly 13% of all US hospital beds are being used by coronavirus patients, placing the nation’s health care system in a precarious situation.

Despite population increases since the 1970s, the number of hospital beds in America has steadily declined, according to CDC figures.

Wednesday’s figures would likely not include infections that occurred during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as coronavirus infections can take weeks to cause hospitalizations. Public health experts are fearful that despite some states implementing shutdowns of businesses, that holiday travel will cause an additional spike in coronavirus cases.

According to Johns Hopkins, the U.S. has recorded at least 100,000 new COVID-19 cases each day since Nov. 3.