As the United States passes 9 million Covid-19 cases, the country keeps racking up infections and other statistics that alarm experts.
On Friday, the US reported more than 99,000 new cases — the most the country has ever reported in one day during the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US also reported more than 1,000 deaths Friday.
Here are a few more startling numbers from a week that saw 536,131 new cases through Thursday, as reported by Johns Hopkins.
• The US seven-day average of new daily cases was 76,513 as of Thursday.
• That’s up 25% from the previous week.
• It’s an 83% increase over the last month.
• Nine states reported a record high single-day of new cases Thursday: Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio.
A US health expert has a dire warning for the country. “Today, we now have one person being diagnosed of coronavirus every second,” emergency physician and former Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said Friday. “We have one American dying of coronavirus every two minutes, and that number is increasing.”
Wen told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that she is most concerned about the rate of test positivity.
“In some states, one in two people who are getting tested are testing positive,” she said. “That means that we’re not doing nearly enough testing, and that every person who tests positive is a canary in a coal mine.”
Thirty states reported have reported at least one day of record-high new cases in October: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Twenty-four states saw their highest 7-day averages for new daily cases Thursday, Johns Hopkins shows: Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
“There are almost certainly to be many more dozens of other cases that we’re not detecting, and that escalation is going to increase in the weeks to come,” Wen added.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.