(CNN) – More Americans who don’t even have coronavirus are friends due to the increase in ICU hospitalizations for covid-19.
Recently published data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. (HHS) show that at least 200 hospitals were at full capacity last week. And in a third of all hospitals, more than 90% of all ICU legs were occupied. Coronavirus patients occupied 46% of all staffed ICU legs, compared to 37% in the first week of November.
Hospitalizations in the US reached a record 107,248 on Thursday, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
Doctors say the numbers will continue to worsen, as the expected increase after Thanksgiving has led to widespread infections and hospitalizations and unprecedented deaths.
“Things are really bad,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University.
“What we have seen in recent weeks is a sharp increase in infections. And what we know, from the beginning of this pandemic, is that the infections are followed by hospitalizations, which are then followed by death. “
Across the country, more hospitals are running out of health workers or ICU beds, forcing some doctors to send patients to another state.
“The impact is not just on people with covid. It is an impact on anyone who needs hospital care, ”said Jha. “Hospitals are running out of beds for everyone. So it’s a much broader public health problem than a simple covid problem. “
A day of extreme hope that ended in despair due to covid-19
This Thursday would have been a day of great hope, as a committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that it authorize a vaccine against covid-19 for emergency use.
But it is also a day of devastating losses. The death toll in a single day for covid-19 hit a record 3,124 on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
These are more deaths than those suffered in the September 11 attacks. And experts say the death toll will get worse.
And Jews reported more than 200,000 new infections, which inevitably led to even more hospitalizations and deaths.
“We are in an unprecedented health crisis in this country,” said former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
“The disease is everywhere: Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, North, South. Health workers are exhausted. The hospitals are completely full. “
The model still predicts 500,000 deaths by April
More than 500,000 people in the United States are said to have died due to covid-19 by April, a model of the Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment forecasts.
The death toll could reach 502,000 by April 1, but it will be lower if more people wear masks, researchers say. Dr. Chris Murray told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that his group found that 72% of Americans wore masks and that 56,000 fewer people would die if mask use increased to 95%.
At worst, based on states easing health orders, 598,000 deaths are forecast for April.
The current model predicts 37,000 fewer deaths than the previous one because the number of hospitalizations and cases is stabilizing in the Midwest. Americans in general have reduced their travel and some states have imposed new health measures, affecting the model, the institute said in a press release.
Vaccines will also help. Between 25,200 and 44,500 lives would be saved by April, researchers said, depending on the speed of the vaccine.
A composite forecast of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC) projects a total of 332,000 to 362,000 deaths per covid-19 by Jan. 2. These prognostic combinations are from 40 independent research groups.
The “light at the end” of a very long tunnel
FDA vaccine advisors recommended the emergency use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which has shown high efficacy in a clinical trial.
This means that the first Americans out of clinical trials could start getting vaccinated in the coming weeks.
The FDA will take the next step toward authorization by deciding whether to accept the recommendation. Officials have noted that the agency will issue the emergency use permit.
Officials will meet again later this month to evaluate the Modern Vaccine, which has also been shown to be highly effective in a clinical trial.
Covid-19 vaccines are a “really significant light at the end of the tunnel,” Sebelius said.
But the United States probably has no real significant impact of vaccines until well into 2021, and that’s only if enough people choose to get vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“Let’s say we get 75%, 80% of the vaccinated population. I think that if we do it efficiently enough during the second quarter of 2021, by the time we get to the end of the summer … we may have enough collective immunity protecting our society as we get to the end of 2021. , we could get closer to … so far a degree of normalcy that is close to where we were before, ”Fauci said at a virtual event at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health on Wednesday.
But with many more infections and deaths expected before widespread vaccination, personal responsibility is key to spending this winter.
That means wearing face masks and picking up on your covid-19 social bubbles.
“We have to take what we’ve learned in the last few months and really put it into practice so that we don’t continue to have this number of unthinkable illnesses and diseases,” Sebelius said.
The average of seven days is calculated averaging the present day with the numbers of the six previous days. Using the average reduces the effects of data drops and spikes caused by delays in reporting or changes in data collection.
Last updated: December 11, 2020, 12:50 am ET
Source: Johns Hopkins University Center for Science and Systems Engineering
Graphic: Curt Merrill, CNN.
Some Idaho morgues are full
The Idaho governor said several conditioners would need to use mobile morgues.
“The morgues are full and they are starting to order refrigerated trailers to store bodies,” said Governor Brad Little. In some parts of the state, “emergency calls for covid-19 victims increased by 300%.”
The governor said that the increase in cases is “consuming resources and staff of the ICU, has brought capacity almost to the maximum.”
Covid-19 was the leading cause of death in Idaho in November. Health officials reported 2,298 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest number announced in a day.
“We’re quickly reaching a point where we may simply not have enough beds, critical care physicians, illnesses, and technicians to handle the number of covid-19 patients who need care,” Little said.
Updated December 11, 2020 at 12:50 am ET
Source: Johns Hopkins University Center for Science and Systems Engineering.
Graphic: Curt Merrill, CNN.
New closures and extended mask mandates
State and local leaders on both sides are doubling security mandates as the coronavirus goes crazy across the country.
Democratic Mayor of Baltimore Brandon Scott announces the temporary closure of all low-tech restaurants and recreational venues, such as bowling alleys, billiard rooms and hookah bars.
“The city of Baltimore has not had to implement such severe restrictions since the early days of the pandemic and the implementation of the stay-at-home order,” tweeted the city’s Department of Health.
“Unfortunately, with the volume of new cases we are seeing and the implications it has for hospital use, during a period of widespread community transmission, activities such as trade, drinking and smoking close to others should not continue.” .
In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said state officials extended the curfew until Jan. 2.
“We believe that curfew, along with the application of the use of masks in your retail trends, also started almost at the same time, your impact,” DeWine said.
“We cannot afford, on the eve of safe and effective vaccination, to further overwhelm our hospitals and health care providers with a festive tsunami,” he added.
In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed a new executive order that adds stricter restrictions to indoor and outdoor meetings and move more counties to the state’s list of mask mandates, meaning 61 of the 82 counties of the state are under a mandate of masks.
Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered hospitals to postpone or reschedule non-emergency procedures performed in a hospital setting for inpatients from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 to preserve the capacity of the hospital. hospital.
Holcomb also announces new limits announcements at social gatherings starting this weekend, according to the color zone (determined by weekly cases per 100,000 and seven-day positivity rate) in counties.
– CNN’s Steve Almasy, Haley Brink, Konstantin Toropin, Amanda Watts, Ben Tinker, Jamiel Lynch, Shelby Lin Edrman, Ganesh Setty, Melissa Alonso, and Kay Jones contributed to this report.