As states across the U.S. count votes amid a close election, COVID-19 counts continue to break records. As of Thursday morning, more than 52,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus, and more than 100,000 new cases were reported Wednesday, the highest single-day total so far.
In the last two weeks alone, more than 10,000 people have been newly hospitalized with COVID-19, from more than 41,000 in late October to more than 52,000 as of late Wednesday, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. Hospitalizations had consistently hovered around 30,000 for the month of September.
In the last week, every single state has seen cases increase. The country is averaging about 89,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, including Wednesday’s record of 103,087.
21 states have seen cases increase by 10% or more in the last week, including: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The U.S. is also doing more testing in the last seven days, averaging 1.26 million tests per day, with just over 1.2 million on Wednesday.
More than 234,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 1,100 people died on Wednesday alone.
A key model from the University of Washington predicts nearly 400,000 total U.S. deaths by Feb. 1, but it also estimates more than 50,000 lives could be saved with universal mask use.
Presidential candidate Joe Biden said he and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris received a briefing on the status of the pandemic Thursday.
“We were reminded again of the severity of this pandemic,” Biden said. “Our hearts go out to each and every family that has lost a loved one to this terrible disease.”