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The USA has reached a sad high in the corona pandemic: more than 250,000 people have died of or with Covid 19 disease in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.
50,000 people have died since the end of September alone.
50,000 dead in a few weeks.
About as many as in a whole bad flu season in the United States.
The hospital staff is already overworked - and many are afraid of further developments.
Emma Nohr, Covid intensive care nurse
»When we had the wave in May, we were tired, exhausted, and we thought: 'Wow, I don't know how it could really get any worse.' And now fast forward to this week: The wave that we had then was really nothing compared to what we are experiencing now.
It's more than twice as much as it was then. "
Another intensive care nurse reports on ten corona stations in her hospital - one of them exclusively for hopeless cases.
Lacie Gooch, Covid Intensive Care Nurse in Omaha
»I've seen so many intubations.
I've never seen people so sick before.
Your condition just worsens so quickly. "
The number of new hospital admissions is currently increasing by around a quarter each week.
And the number of new infections is also increasing: more than 160,000 new cases were counted on Tuesday alone - with a positive rate of eleven percent.
That means: about every tenth test is positive.
The number of unrecognized infections is likely to be high.
The fight against the coronavirus in the USA is also a fight against disinformation, the lack of insight into countermeasures and the onset of pandemic fatigue.
And against the incumbent government.
Because she still refuses to work with the future.
In an open letter to President Donald Trump, several health associations demand that important health data be shared with Joe Biden's transition team in order to be able to, quote: save countless lives.
Joe Biden
»The numbers are going through the roof. And there is no real end in sight. "
The elected new US president held a video conference to share with people who are on the front lines fighting the virus.
Mary Turner, Missesota Nursing Association Chairwoman
“I have held the hand of dying patients crying crying for families they cannot see.
I've looked after colleagues who are struggling for their own lives on the ventilator.
We have to act quickly to protect the caregivers so we can save as many lives as possible. "
Joe Biden: "Mary ..."
Mary Turner: "I'm sorry I'm getting so emotional."
Joe Biden: “No. They make me emotional too. As President, I'll fight as hard as I can, as hard as you fight for your people. "
If things continue like this, Biden said, the death toll could rise to 400,000 by the time he took office in January.
In many places, further measures are now being taken to reduce contacts.
In New York City, which was already hard hit during the first wave in the spring, all public schools will be closed from Thursday, and more than a million students will be taking digital classes.
At least one positive aspect can be derived from the high number of infections in the USA: the pharmaceutical companies find enough test subjects to test the vaccines against the coronavirus.