The United States has been hit by its worst surge of Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths yet, with 3,100 people killed by the virus in a single day. Figures from Johns Hopkins University showed that 3,157 people were killed by coronavirus on Wednesday, 20% higher than the previous single-day record of 2,603 deaths on April 15.
The total number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 has also topped 100,000 for the first time, amid a dire warning from President-elect Joe Biden that the total number of people killed could double to more than 500,000 over the next two months.
Biden said Wednesday that the US faces a ‘dark winter,’ saying: ‘We’re likely to lose another 250,000 people dead between now and January You hear me? Because people aren’t paying attention.’
The president-elected predictions were grimmer than those made by the official US Centers for Disease Control, although he did not share more information about where his statistics came from. America’s Covid-19 death toll currently sits at just under 274,000 people, with more than 13.9million people infected. Recent weeks have seen the US record a million new Covid cases every six or seven days. Diagnoses hit 12 million on November 21, 13 million on November 27, and are now likely to hit 14 million on December 3.
The numbers came as Los Angeles County – which covers the entire Southern California metropolis – warned its 4 million residents to stay home. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, pictured in October, has ordered his city to completely lock down .
LA County Mayor Eric Garcetti’s ban includes all but essential travel, indoor dining, gyms and pools. Shops can only operate at 20% capacity, and places of worship can only hold services outside. Garcetti took action after Los Angeles County recorded a record 7,500 Covid cases on Tuesday. He has warned that LA is on track to run out of hospital beds by Christmas.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to approve two Covid vaccines in the coming weeks, although mass-vaccinations are unlikely to gather steam until early 2021.