The coronavirus grows at a record rate and the White House admits it will not control it

The coronavirus pandemic advances in the United States with a record number of infections and a worrying rise in hospitalizations, even hitting the White House again with an outbreak in the team of Vice President Mike Pence. 

However, the government chaired by Donald Trump has recognized this weekend, after two consecutive days with about 78,000 new cases, that it will not be able to contain the new coronavirus. 

"We are not going to control the pandemic," White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday in an interview on CNN, adding later that the country will defeat the virus because that is what the Americans are doing. 

The statements by the Chief of Staff came as it became known that at least four advisers to the vice president tested positive for the virus, among which is the Chief of Staff, Marc Short.

Pence will however continue with his campaign plans, with only one week remaining until the elections.

This Monday he has tested negative.

[Mike Pence continues his campaign despite four of his advisers testing positive for COVID-19.

Why is this a risk?] 

Members of Vice President Mike Pence's team test positive for coronavirus

Oct. 25, 202002: 26

The United States already exceeds 8.6 million cases and more than 226,000 deaths from the virus, according to data from NBC News, and the projections are not encouraging.

Infections are increasing in the Midwest region and rural areas of the country.

With the arrival of winter and cold temperatures, public health officials fear that more people are gathering indoors, facilitating the spread of the virus. 

Telemundo News

Experts say it is only a matter of time before the country's hospitals reach their capacity limit, although in some states this is already happening, according to The New York Times. 

There are more than 41,000 patients hospitalized for the virus in the country, a figure 40% higher than last month.

In the first months of the pandemic, many of these patients were in metropolitan areas, while now they are in rural regions with worse health infrastructure. 

In places like Idaho, for example, a hospital reached an occupancy level of 99% last week and warned that it may have to transport coronavirus patients to centers in states like Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.

"Specifically, we have had to close an entire floor of our hospital," said Robert Scoggins, a pulmonologist at Kootenai Health hospital in Coeur d'Alene. 

Medical personnel treat a critically ill COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Texas (File).

AP

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is sending more medical reinforcements to the El Paso area, on the border with Mexico, after the city registered 3,750 new cases in a week.

[The list of errors that show how Trump and his government have minimized the pandemic] 

The numbers show once again a reality that disagrees with the panorama presented by the president, Donald Trump, in the middle of the electoral campaign. 

Coronavirus rebound reaches record levels

Oct. 25, 202002: 15

Days after Trump in the presidential debate that the pandemic was under control, 43 states in the country reported an increase in infections. 

The increase in cases is due to massive events, but also to parties, weddings and other family gatherings, according to experts.

In several parts of the country, authorities again recommended self-confinement.

However, the White House attributes the increase in infections to the greater number of diagnostic tests, and ensures that the United States economy needs to reopen completely.

"What we have to do is make sure we have the right mitigating factors, be it therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure that people don't die from this," the White House chief of staff said Sunday. 

[Trump says we are near the end of the pandemic.

The data does not support it]  

At the same time, Trump again asserted, in a campaign speech in New Hampshire that the United States was "just around the corner" in recovering from the pandemic. 

With information from The New York Times, CNN and NBC News.