The U.S. recorded its five deadliest days in less than two weeks with more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths reported on Thursday.
More COVID-19 deaths over the next weeks
The United States' total rate of COVID-19 deaths climbed to over 365,300 as per the Johns Hopkins University data. Simultaneously, some 115,000 people could lose life over the next four weeks based on the projection of the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
CNN reported that the pandemic is not showing any signs of declining. Instead, states are reporting an increase in number of cases. In just two days, California recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths. Hospitalization is at record high-levels with approximately 23,000 patients admitted with COVID-19.
Meanwhile, one person dies of COVID-19 every eight minutes in Los Angeles, while Arizona's top health official claimed Thursday that the "coming out on Christmas holiday" made the state's COVID-19 cases go an inch upward.
In a video message, the director of the state's Department of Health Services, Dr. Cara Christ, said, "Cases and percent positivity are rising, as are inpatient and intensive care unit beds occupied by those with COVID-19. Regrettably, deaths from COVID-19 follow these trends."
For the fifth day in-a-row, Texas reported record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations. The state's second-largest county, Dallas, had only 13 adult OCI beds available on Wednesday, as per County Judge Clay Jenkins' tweet.
It will be months before the vaccinations are widespread enough to make a significant impact in the COVID-19 pandemic's course while they are now several weeks in, experts warned. On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the vaccine rollout needs a couple of weeks to catch up. However, if it does not happen, experts need to make changes.
COVID-19 deaths rise as several states report UK variant cases
More states revealed cases of the U.K. COVID-19 variant across the country. On Thursday, Harris County health officials found a case of the U.K. variant from a man with no travel history, which concludes that the variant has been circulated locally.
Other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Georgia, and Colorado have confirmed cases of the variant. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced the state's first two cases that had recently traveled outside the states, one to New York, and the other to Ireland.
Despite the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, experts claimed that the vaccines are more likely to protect against it.
According to Daily Mail, the U.S. has reported record-high COVID-19 deaths among Americans on Thursday with 4,085, for the third day in-a-row.
The report broke the previous records of 3,775 set Tuesday and 3,865 on Wednesday. The highest number of new COVID-19 cases was reported in the first week of 2021, even as the slowdown of data from the holiday period is still affecting the accuracy of the report.
A total of 274,703 coronavirus infections were reported on Thursday alone; the highest number of cases ever recorded in a single day. California remains the worst-hit state in the U.S., which reported a two-day record total of more than 1,000 deaths.
There have been over 21.5 million COVID-19 infected Americans and 365,346 deaths across the country. Besides, the country beat its previous highs for hospitalizations and deaths. The seven-day death average is now at 2,782 daily.
Aside from the seven-day average of deaths, the new daily COVID-19 cases rose to 229,650 as Texas, California, and Florida reported 80,000 cases alone, as per The COVID Tracking Project.
Read also: Asymptomatic Cases Cause Virus Infection to Spread in the US, Researchers Say
