Deaths are mounting and hospitalization rate surging in the United States where a total of one hundred and forty-two new coronavirus cases were registered in the last twenty four hours.
It is yet another grim record of the scourge in the world’s most advanced country, continuing a harrowing increase as the Northern Hemisphere enters a period of cold weather, indoor life, colds and flus that are expected to add fuel to the contagion.
It was just 19 days earlier, on Oct. 23, that the United States first topped 80,000 new cases in a day, surpassing the previous peak set in July.
It exceeded 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4, and 120,000 the next day. The country has had more than 10.5 million cases so far, and more than 241,000 Covid-19 deaths, the most in the world; the pandemic is killing Americans at a rate of about 1,000 a day.
More troubling than the infections are the hospitalization figures, as several parts of the country report that their hospital facilities and personnel are being stretched beyond capacity.
On Wednesday, 65,368 people were hospitalized with Covid-19, a figure that has doubled in little over a month, breaking the record set a day earlier by more than 3,400.
The leadership of the country has come up for strong criticism for its poor handling of the pandemic.
Critics say that instead of taking charge as the country plunges deeper into the worst domestic crisis since World War II, President Donald Trump has disappeared inside the White House, saying nothing on camera since he baselessly claimed a week ago that the election was being stolen from him by President-elect Joe Biden.
He’s spending time with advisers, not strategizing on how to tame the out-of-control health emergency but seeking a path to win an election already declared lost. He’s also found time to purge the top leadership of the Pentagon, and with few appointments on his public schedule appears to spend his days watching news coverage and tweeting misinformation about voter fraud.
In a televised address, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio invoked the Veterans Day holiday on Wednesday, noting that previous generations had laid down their lives to protect the country.
“Today we all must do something far less dramatic, but very important,” he said. “Wear a mask, so that your friends, neighbors and family members might live.”
