New Information- Infected- Deaths- Shutdowns- Covid19

No wonder the number of cases is way up!!

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US Virus Numbers Now Include Probable Cases Without Tests
The U.S. tally of coronavirus cases and deaths might jump, because federal health officials will now count illnesses that are not confirmed by lab testing.
By Associated Press, Wire Service Content April 15, 2020, at 4:32 p.m.
BY MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. tally of coronavirus cases and deaths could soon jump because federal health officials will now count illnesses that are not confirmed by lab testing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told states Tuesday to include probable COVID-19 cases in their reports to the agency. Previously, most states reported only lab-confirmed cases and deaths.

The change hasn't caused U.S. counts to rise much faster than they had been, but officials in some states said they were just learning about the change. Pennsylvania, for example, has begun to follow the CDC and expand its reporting, Dr. Rachel Levine, the state's secretary of health, said in a Wednesday call with reporters.

CDC officials said Wednesday in a statement that the change would give them "a better picture of the burden of COVID-19 in the U.S.”

There was already a big rise in New York City, where officials this week started counting people who had never tested positive for the coronavirus. That caused the city's death count to jump by more than 3,700 on Tuesday.

States can report such illnesses how they want, but the CDC provides guidance. The federal agency often relies on an organization called the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to help define cases.

Earlier this month, the council revised its COVID-19 definition to include illnesses that don't have positive test results but in which the evidence points to the disease. The council made the change in part because of growing evidence that some infected people don't exhibit symptoms and may not have been tested.

Coronavirus update: U.S. counts more than 1,000 fatalities for a fourth straight day as virus spread accelerates in South and West
Published: July 25, 2020 at 7:37 p.m. ET
By Ciara Linnane, MarketWatch

‘What we have now are essentially three New Yorks, with these three major states,’ says Dr. Deborah Birx

The coronavirus illness COVID-19 claimed another 1,100 lives in the U.S. in a single day to push the death toll above 145,000 on Saturday, marking a fourth straight day of more than a 1,000 U.S. fatalities, the first time that has happened since May when an average of 2,000 people died a day.

The U.S. has 4.13 million confirmed cases of the illness, accounting for about a quarter of the global tally of 15.7 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. More than 74,000 new cases were counted on Friday, one of the biggest single-day tallies since the start of the outbreak.

President Donald Trump canceled the planned Republican National Convention events that were due to take place in hot spot Florida next month, one of a series of reversals of policy this week. Trump also changed his view on wearing face masks, finally urging Americans to comply with a key recommendation of his own health experts, and acknowledged that the pandemic will get worse before it gets better.

The virus spread has accelerated through the summer, climbing to 4 million from 3 million in just 15 days, as the Washington Post reported. In the early days of the outbreak it took 45 days to increase from 1 million to 2 million cases, and then took 27 days to rise to 3 million.

Forty-two states and territories have seen rising cases in the last 14 days, according to a New York Times tracker, led by Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters at a briefing that his state is nearing breaking point after its case tally rose above 100,000.

States in the South and West continue to report rising rates of hospitalizations, taking the tally close to the peak hit on April 15, according to the COVID-19 Tracking Project. There were 59,670 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals on Friday, compared with the April record of 59,940.

Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House Task Force created to manage the pandemic, took a more somber tone than usual on Friday on NBC’s “Today Show.”

“I just want to make it clear to the American public: What we have now are essentially three New Yorks, with these three major states,” she said, referring to California, Florida and Texas. “And so we’re really having to respond as an American people, and that’s why you hear us calling for masks and increased social distancing to really stop the spread of this epidemic.”

The face mask issue continued to be a thorny issue with the American public with legal challenges against mandates extending to Oregon on Thursday, when conservative group Freedom Foundation filed a suit against Gov. Kate Brown.

“Governors in left-leaning states all over the country are making up the rules as they go – and ignoring the procedural rules their own state laws set up,” Jason Dudash, the Freedom Foundation’s Oregon director, said in a statement on the group’s website.

Last week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her face mask mandate. Several Georgia cities have also filed suits, while counties and districts in other states, including California, have also launched suits.

Public health experts have stressed that wearing face masks is key to containing the virus, along with frequent hand washing and social distancing. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, said at a recent news conference that if every American agreed to wear a mask, “over the next six weeks we could drive (the virus) into the ground.”

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania, an oncologist, bioethicist and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, reiterated his concern that the U.S. has squandered the last four months, “and it really is very, very depressing,” he said in an interview on MSNBC.

“We’re really right back in March,” he said.

Latest tallies

The global death tally from COVID-19 stands at 640,601, the Johns Hopkins data shows, and at least 9.1 million people have recovered.

Brazil is second to the U.S. with 2.3 million cases and 85,238 deaths. Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro, who has been criticized for his blasé approach to the pandemic, said Saturday that he has tested negative for COVID-19, just weeks after testing positive, the Guardian reported.

India is third measured by cases at 1.3 million, followed by Russia with 805,322 and South Africa with 421,996.

The U.K. has 299,503 cases and 45,762 fatalities, the highest in Europe and third highest in the world.

China, where the illness was first reported late last year, has 86,202 cases and 4,651 fatalities.

US hits 150,000 deaths from COVID-19 as states struggle to halt resurgence
Jessica Flores and Autumn Schoolman, USA TODAY • July 29, 2020

The U.S. surged past 150,000 COVID-19 fatalities Wednesday as states battle a resurgence of the virus with differing attitudes about how to stop the spread.

The bleak milestone, reported by Johns Hopkins, comes on the heels of the U.S. hitting 4 million confirmed infections July 23. The death toll stood at 150,034 as of 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

And there is not much relief in sight. The three most populous states – California, Texas and Florida – were among several that set seven-day records for virus deaths this week. Others set records for new cases. Tennessee and Arkansas set records for both.

The first known U.S. death was Feb. 6. Almost six months later the number of deaths is appalling – and could reach 200,000 in less than two months from now. That's based on the current average of 1,019 deaths per day this last week.

Experts say the increase in cases and deaths is largely because of states easing restrictions and reopening their economies too soon.

“We were not careful and it became like a domino effect,” Dr. Anne Rimoin, epidemiologist and director of UCLA’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative, told USA TODAY.

State and local laws differ widely on how to curb the spread of the virus: Some governors are advocating more aggressive social distancing and masks; others have fought mandatory restrictions and balked a shutting down their economies a second time in the face of a surge.

“Everybody rushed back to normal when what we really needed to be doing was doubling down,” Rimoin said. “We are not doing enough to suppress the spread of the virus."

Increasingly, the virus is having a ripple effect on other areas of health. The United Nations said this week that coronavirus-linked hunger is leading to the deaths of 10,000 children a month because of fears of contamination and movement restrictions.

Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force warned local and state leaders of a concerning rise in cases in 11 cities, according to audio obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. She listed Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

“What started out very much as a southern and western epidemic is starting to move up the East Coast into Tennessee, Arkansas, up into Missouri, up across Colorado, and obviously we’re talking about increases now in Baltimore,” Birx said. “So this is really critical that everybody is following this and making sure they’re being aggressive about mitigation efforts.”

The record numbers of new weekly coronavirus cases that Arizona, Florida, Texas and California experienced a month ago are now playing out as record numbers of deaths in those states. Texas' death toll continues to rise, and the state had a record 1,607 deaths in the week ending Monday, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

That translates into a Texan dying every 6 minutes, 16 seconds. Texas' weekly death toll is more than seven times its worst week through April.

An analysis of Johns Hopkins data released late Monday show eight states set records for new coronavirus counts – and eight set records for deaths. Many states that were seeing cases surge several weeks ago have stopped breaking records for new cases, including Alabama, Georgia, Nevada and South Carolina. But all of those states broke records for deaths on Monday night.

The U.S. is “knee-deep” in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, recently said. "And I would say, this would not be considered a wave. It was a surge or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline."

Southern and Southwestern states became a hotbed for the resurgence soon after they reopened in late May and early June. In about one month, Florida saw its case rate quadruple.

In the west, Arizona's death toll is now more than five times worse than its worst week in the spring, while Florida is well over double. California is about 24% above its worst spring death toll.



Note: The spike in deaths on 6/25 is due to New Jersey adding over 1,800 probable deaths to the state's totals.

According to a federal report, the "Red Zone" states climbed to 21, meaning they reached more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in one week. According to The New York Times, the "Red Zone" states are Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

With deaths rising, Americans are preparing for precautions to continue into the fall season. According to The Harris Poll survey of 1,970 U.S. adults from July 18-19, 61% of Americans are anticipating a stay-at-home fall with jobs continuing to be remote and parents choosing virtual courses from home.

Meanwhile, more and more retailers are mandating that face masks or coverings be worn in their stores, including large companies like Walmart, Target, CVS, Home Depot and Walgreens. Those decisions only add to the hot button issue as some believe that wearing a mask violates constitutional rights while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended masks as a way to prevent the spread of the virus.

Only recently did President Donald Trump make his first attempt at encouraging the use of face masks since the pandemic started. He also brought back daily coronavirus task force briefings this month after suspending them in April. The resurgence in cases, he claims, has been fueled by protests over the death of George Floyd, an increase in travel, migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and summer holidays.

Though experts generally blame the spike in cases on lax restrictions, the resurgence has left some states reconsidering their safety mandates. Infectious disease physician Alysse Wurcel told USA TODAY that some states might consider going back to an earlier phase. She said people won't see immediate effects of safety protocols such as wearing a mask, but that wearing one is a best practice in preventing the spread of the virus.

"I think actions now will only show benefits in a month or two because the infection that spreads today will cause the illness in 14 days, which will cause the death a month or so later," Wurcel said. "It’s really hard to convince people that whatever they are doing today, you won’t see the benefits of it for a month.”

As for a potential COVID-19 vaccine, scientists across the world are rushing to develop one. The Trump administration announced a $1.95 billion deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for 100 million doses of their vaccine candidate, which the companies hope to get approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by October. The firms said Americans will receive the vaccine for free.

Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health and a U.S. biotech company called Moderna began the first large-scale American test for a potential vaccine with 30,000 volunteers.

Coronavirus update: Global case tally climbs above 19 million; U.S. death toll moves above 160,000 after 11 straight days with 1,000-plus fatalities
Published: Aug. 7, 2020 at 1:14 p.m. ET, By Ciara Linnane

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19 climbed above 19 million worldwide on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, and the death toll rose above 715,000, with more than 160,000 of those deaths in the U.S., which has suffered 11 straight days with 1,000 or more fatalities.

The U.S. now has almost 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and at least 160,111 people have died. And while case numbers are coming down in some places that were recently seeing spikes, confusion over how some localities are reporting their infections has raised speculation that the publicly available numbers are not offering a true picture.

California state officials said Thursday they have identified a bug in the electronic system used for collecting infectious-disease data, creating confusion just as public health, education and business leaders are trying to plan for an uncertain future, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The problem may have led to underreporting of COVID-19 cases in many if not all counties, the paper reported. Gov. Gavin Newsom has been using those numbers to reassure Californians that their numbers were coming down.

News on Thursday that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19, only to test negative hours later using a different kind of test, highlights the problem facing states grappling with unreliable test kits. DeWine was first tested using an antigen test, which is faster but understood to be less accurate than a polymerase chain-reaction test, which delivered the later negative result. The governor was being tested ahead of planned meeting with President Donald Trump.

The news caps a week in which testing has been a major area of concern for experts, who say the U.S. is still not conducting enough tests, or following through with contact tracing and isolation. A group of governors combined forces earlier this week to order millions of tests in an effort to reduce the backlog.

A Pew Research Center survey published Thursday found most Americans — 69% of those polled — believe state governments moved too quickly to lift restrictions on movement, creating the current wave that is moving fast across the South, West and even Midwest regions that previously had few cases.

The survey of 11,001 adults conducted July 27 to Aug. 2 found about six in 10 Americans believe the U.S. response to the outbreak has been less effective than those of other wealthy nations. The U.S. has about 4% of the global population but accounts for roughly a quarter of global cases and deaths.

Nearly half of Americans, or 48%, rate President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic “poor,” up 16 points since March. “Positive views of the performance of public health officials also have declined significantly: 63% now say public health officials, such as those with the CDC, are doing an excellent or good job in responding to the coronavirus outbreak, down from 79% in March,” the survey found.

Coronavirus in the US: State-by-state breakdown
By Alexandria Hein, David Aaro | Fox News
50 minutes ago

As of Thursday morning, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 24,193,010 people across 188 countries and territories, resulting in at least 826,141 deaths. In the U.S., all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19, tallying more than 5,822,927 illnesses and at least 179,735 deaths.

Here's a look at the 10 states with the most cases:

1. California: 687,723 cases

2. Texas: 610,648 cases

3. Florida: 605,502 cases

4. New York: 431,340 cases

5. Georgia: 260,590 cases

6. Illinois: 227,043 cases

7. Arizona: 199,459 cases

8. New Jersey: 190,306 cases

9. North Carolina: 158,985 cases

10. Tennessee: 147,353 cases

Here's a look at the top 10 states with the most deaths:

1. New York: 32,921 deaths

2. New Jersey: 15,914 deaths

3. California: 12,552 deaths

4. Texas: 12,140 deaths

5. Florida: 10,733 deaths

6. Massachusetts: 8,987 deaths

7. Illinois: 8,163 deaths

8. Pennsylvania: 7,613 deaths

9. Michigan: 6,690 deaths

10. Georgia: 5,311 deaths

Maps at https://www.foxnews.com/health/coronavirus-in-us-state-by-state-breakdown

Coronavirus update: Global case tally above 24.5 million, U.S. nears 6 million
White House testing strategy dismays experts
Published: Aug. 28, 2020 at 1:42 p.m. ET
By Ciara Linnane | MarketWatch

After days of confusing messages from the CDC on testing, White House to buy 150 million rapid tests for $750 million

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19 worldwide rose above 24.5 million on Friday, while the U.S. tally neared 6 million, and the White House unveiled a plan to acquire 150 million rapid tests from Abbott that received emergency use authorization on Thursday.

The $5 test can produce a result in 15 minutes, potentially easing a bottleneck in testing that has left patients waiting up to two weeks for results, a delay that renders them useless. The government will pay $750 million for the tests. The move comes after days of confusing messages from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on testing, after it changed guidelines to exclude tests on asymptomatic patients, who are understood to play a key role in spreading the virus.

CDC head Robert Redfield tried to walk that change back on Thursday, after an outcry from doctors and scientists and a report that the change was pushed by White House officials and not CDC scientists. The wording of guidance offered on the CDC website has not changed though.

Tom Frieden, a former head of the CDC, told MSNBC that the agency has undermined trust in a way that is indefensible.

“The CDC is a technical institution and what we’ve heard from Washington is, ‘Oh these were decisions made at the White House Task Force’ — come again?” he said. “It’s very disappointing.”

The agency needs to change its website and be clear, he said.

Meanwhile, four people who attended the Republican National Convention in Charlotte this week have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington Post reported, citing local county government officials. Scenes of Trump supporters gathering closely on the White House South Lawn for his acceptance speech late Thursday, most without face masks and failing to socially distance, have raised concerns that more people will test positive in the coming days.

In his speech, Trump promised his administration would produce a vaccine by year-end, even though Phase 3 trials have just begun and little data has been released yet. Trump also praised his government’s efforts to manage the pandemic, which has been widely criticized. He did not mention the latest U.S. death toll which rose above 180,000 on Thursday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

In other news:

• Concerns are growing that Louisiana, which had one of the highest numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 before Hurricane Laura hit this week, will see a surge in new cases as many residents fleeing the massive storm left in crowded buses without face masks. Louisiana has more than 145,000 confirmed cases and 4,874 fatalities, the Johns Hopkins data shows. Its per capita death rate stands at 104 per 100,000 people, compared with the overall U.S. mortality rate of 55.27 per 100,000 people, which is fourth highest in the world after Peru, Chile and Brazil.

• Universities continue to count new infections at alarming rate, but one school says it avoided a major outbreak in one of its dorms, by testing sewage. The University of Arizona says when a sample tested positive, it was able to test all 311 people who lived and worked there and discovered two asymptomatic cases, who were quickly isolated, the Washington Post reported. Richard Carmona, a former U.S. Surgeon General who is working with the university on returning students safely, said the early detection allowed it to move quickly. “We jumped on it right away, tested those youngsters and got them the appropriate isolation where they needed to be,” he said at a news conference, the paper reported.

• The U.K. government is pushing for office workers to return to work, insisting workplaces are safe enough. Transport Minister Grant Schapps told Sky News that employers should have taken measures to ensure office spaces are safe. “The vast majority of employers just want to get their businesses back up and running, they want to do the right thing, and many will have found that actually home working can work for some of their employees,” he said, before adding that there was a limit to remote working.

• Indonesia reported more than 3,000 new cases on Friday for the first time since the start of the outbreak, the Guardian reported. The country of more than 300 million counted 105 deaths after outbreaks in three factories in West Java that the provincial governor blamed on workers not following safety measures. A plant owned by Japanese car maker Suzuki had 71 workers test positive, while more than 200 tested positive at a plant owned by Korea’s LG Electronics.

Latest tallies

The global tally for confirmed cases of COVID-19 stands at 24.5 million, while the number of deaths stands at 832,918, according to the Johns Hopkins data. Just over 16 million people have recovered.

U.S. cases stand at 5.88 million with 181,092 fatalities.

Brazil is second to the U.S. with 3.76 million cases and 118,649 deaths. India has 3.4 million cases and 61,529 deaths. Russia has 977,730 cases and 16,866 deaths. Mexico has 579,914 cases, but 62,594 deaths, the third-highest in the world.

The U.K. has 332,511 cases and 41,564 fatalities, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world.

China, where the illness was first reported, has 89,827 cases and 4,718 deaths.

During her summer news conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed fears that the pandemic will worsen as temperatures drop. She and state governors have agreed to new measures to curb the spread of the illness, including a fine for not wearing a mask, according to the New York Times. Germany has had 240,598 confirmed cases and 9,291 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Jack Kruse
·
“This week the CDC quietly updated the COVID19 number to admit that only 6% of all the 153,504 deaths recorded actually died from COVID19

That's 9,210 deaths

The other 94% had 2-3 other serious illnesses and the overwhelming majority were of very advanced age”

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm

Coronavirus update: Global tally climbs above 26 million, U.S. above 6.1 million, amid concerns CDC will rush out a vaccine
Published: Sept. 3, 2020 at 1:10 p.m. ET

The global tally of confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed above 26 million on Thursday, while the U.S. tally rose above 6.1 million, amid growing concerns that President Donald Trump’s administration may attempt to rush out a vaccine ahead of the November presidential election.


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Those concerns were fueled by the news that the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent a letter to governors, urging them to prepare to start distributing a COVID-19 vaccine in their states by Nov. 1, just two days before the election.

In the letter dated Aug. 27, CDC head Robert Redfield said states “in the near future” will receive permit applications from drug distributor McKesson Corp. MCK, -1.15%, which has contracted with CDC to distribute vaccines to places including state and local health departments and hospitals, as the Associated Press reported.

“CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020,” Redfield wrote.

Long article: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-update-global-tally-climbs-above-26-million-us-above-61-million-amid-concerns-cdc-will-rush-out-a-vaccine-2020-09-03

Coronavirus: US sees record-high daily Covid numbers as election nears
Published 2 hours ago | BBC

The US saw a record high of 91,000 new Covid-19 cases reported on Thursday, with spikes in dozens of states just days before the presidential election.

The same day, over 1,000 Americans died with the virus, as the national death toll and number of patients in hospital continue to trend upward.

The US is just shy of nine million total cases, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

The contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden comes to a head on Tuesday.

This is the third time this month that the US daily death toll has surpassed 1,000, according to Reuters.

Twenty-one states are experiencing outbreaks, with some of the most severe in the states that will be key in deciding the 2020 election.

Explaining the Electoral College and which voters will decide who wins

In the battleground state of Wisconsin, hospitals in Green Bay warned that President Trump's Friday rally there could make the outbreak worse.

"It is more important now than ever to avoid large crowds, especially here in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where we are seeing some of the most rapid spread of Covid-19 in the United States," a joint statement from several hospitals said.

On Friday, ahead of his scheduled rallies, Mr Trump tweeted: "More Testing equals more Cases. We have best testing. Deaths WAY DOWN."

At recent Trump rallies, attendees have been screened and given masks. The events have also been held outdoors due to the pandemic. But there has not been social distancing, and some supporters continue to avoid masks.

Mr Biden has also continued to campaign, though the Democrat's rallies have enforced social distancing practices, opting to have people attend inside their cars, for example.

Mr Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, made an appearance on Fox News on Thursday where he repeated his father's line that the pandemic is under control.

"I went through the [Centers for Disease Control] data, because I kept hearing about new infections," the younger Mr Trump said.

"But I was like, 'Well, why aren't they talking about deaths?' Oh, because the number is almost nothing. Because we've gotten control of this and we understand how it works."

CDC data on 29 October reported an additional 1,060 deaths due to Covid-19. The total US death toll is over 228,000 people.

US health experts are warning the case load and death toll will continue to rise as the flu season coincides with the outbreaks.

Infectious disease expert and White House coronavirus task force member Dr Anthony Fauci told CNBC on Wednesday that the nation was "going in the wrong direction".

"If things do not change, if they continue on the course we're on, there's going to be a whole lot of pain in this country with regard to additional cases and hospitalisations and deaths."

10-30-2020

Coronavirus: US hospital admissions reach record high as cases surge
Published 1 hour ago | BBC

The number of Americans in hospital with Covid-19 reached record levels on Tuesday, as more than a million new cases were confirmed in November.

There are over 10 million confirmed US cases and 239,732 deaths so far - and the death toll is rising to an average of over 900 a day amid the new spikes.

As of Tuesday, 61,964 people are receiving hospital care for the virus, the Covid Tracking Project reports.

Experts warn hospitals across the country could soon be overwhelmed.

The US has been seeing more than 100,000 new cases per day over the last 10 days in what experts say may be a worse outbreak than those seen in the spring and summer.

States across the US have broken new case records this week. On 10 November, Texas became the first state to hit one million total cases. That takes its case count above that of Italy - one of the worst-hit countries during the first wave in March and April.

The same day, Texas - America's second most-populous state - saw over 10,800 new cases.

Other states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and Florida, have also seen numbers rise. CBS News reports 15 states saw the numbers of patients in hospital due to the virus double in the last month.

Some hospitals, such as in Idaho and Missouri, have had to turn patients away because they ran out of room.

State leaders have been re-imposing pandemic restrictions as a result. Residents of Wisconsin and Nevada have been urged to stay at home for two weeks. In Minnesota, bars and restaurants must shut by 22:00.

On Tuesday, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who has been tapped to join President-elect Joe Biden's virus advisory group, warned of a "perfect storm".

Speaking to the CBS This Morning programme, Mr Osterholm said there was "no question that our hospitals are about to be overrun". He noted "the darkest days of this pandemic between now and next spring", before the vaccine arrives.

Mr Osterholm, who heads the infectious disease research centre at the University of Minnesota, said during the summer spike after the Labour Day national holiday, new cases rose to 32,000 a day.

"Now we're running in the 120- to 130,000 cases a day," he said. "Do not be at all surprised when we hit 200,000 cases a day."

The same day, US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci offered some hopeful news. He said the new Covid vaccine by Pfizer was expected to go through an emergency authorisation process in the next week or so. Human trials suggest it is 90% effective.

Dr Fauci told MSNBC: "I'm going to look at the data, but I trust Pfizer, I trust the [Food and Drug Administration]. These are colleagues of mine for decades, the career scientists."

Amid the ongoing outbreak, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its research around masks, saying that wearing one not only protects others but also the person wearing the mask.

Previous guidance had rested on the idea that the main benefit of mask-wearing came from potentially stopping an infected person transmitting Covid to others.

The CDC referenced several studies, including one case where two Covid-positive hair stylists interacted with 139 clients - but of the 67 clients researchers tested, none developed an infection. The stylists and all clients had worn masks in the salon.

Another study looking into the outbreak aboard the UUS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier found mask-wearing seemed to have reduced the risk of virus transmission by 70%, the CDC said.