The United States has more than 236,000 coronavirus-related deaths. (File)
Washington:
The United States set a third straight daily record for new Covid-19 infections, registering more than 127,000 cases, John Hopkins University reported on Friday.
And the 8:30 p.m. (01:30 GMT) death toll in the past 24 hours was 1,149, the Baltimore-based university said.
The epidemic has been increasing for weeks across the country, with the Midwest most affected even as the number of new diagnoses approached spring levels in the south, northeast and west.
While deaths remain well below the spring peak, Friday was also the fourth day in a row that deaths were over 1000. The last time people died from Covid-19 at this rate in the United States was early days. September.
As of Friday night, the United States – the worst-affected country in the world in terms of deaths and total cases – had more than 236,000 coronavirus-related deaths and 9.7 million known infections.
Cases are expected to increase as the country moves into colder weather and people mainly socialize indoors, ideal conditions for spreading the virus from person to person.
Colder and drier weather could also play a role in creating favorable conditions for the virus to persist in the air and on surfaces.
Reasons why deaths are down from their peak include the fact that with cases being more geographically dispersed than they were at the start of the US epidemic, hospitals are better able to cope with the workload.
Doctors have also learned how to better treat severe cases of Covid-19 – by placing patients on their stomachs, avoiding the use of ventilators if possible, and using them on low pressure settings if necessary, and, perhaps more importantly, using steroids such as dexamethasone to reduce a destructive autoimmune response known as a cytokine storm.
Since a greater proportion of those infected are younger, they are also less likely to develop severe forms of the disease.
Two vaccine makers, Moderna and Pfizer, say they may be ready to apply for emergency use authorizations towards the end of the month.
But if and when vaccines do become available, they are only expected to be moderately effective, which means people will need to continue to adhere to masking, social distancing and hand hygiene to end the pandemic.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
