Los Angeles prepares for the third wave of covid-19 3:31
(CNN) ––
At least 88,080 people are hospitalized for covid-19 in the United States, setting a record since the coronavirus crisis began, as the country undergoes a steady increase in cases in the fall, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
This is the highest number of covid-19 hospitalizations the nation has recorded since the pandemic began to hit the United States.
Hospital systems across the country have warned that their staffing and availability of beds in intensive care units is shrinking.
Pennsylvania's top health official said Monday that the state could run out of beds in just a week.
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In Minneapolis, a doctor tearfully told CNN that she had cared for five COVID-19 patients the last time she worked.
Two were sent to palliative care, he said.
And another, an 80-year-old woman, died while her husband, also a patient, watched her, she added.
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"I don't think you can describe how we feel as caregivers having to see that kind of suffering from patients," Dr. Shirlee Xie, director of hospital medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, said Tuesday.
Covid-19 hospitalizations threaten to overload health systems
Although the hospital can add beds and equipment, "we cannot create doctors ... We cannot create nurses to care for patients," he said.
And he added: "I think we are all really very scared about what is to come."
This latest spike in coronavirus cases across the country is driven primarily by symptom-free people gathering indoors.
This was pointed out by Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English).
"The real factor driving this epidemic now is not the public square," Redfield said in an interview with Fox News.
"It's really driven by the silent epidemic - largely asymptomatic infections in people between the ages of, say, 12 and 35."
They warn in the US about more cases of covid-19 in children 1:06
Redford noted that transmission patterns are now very different from those seen in major metropolitan areas during the spring.
As he explained, the transmission occurs this time when people remove their masks and gather in homes.
These silent carriers that spread the virus show up as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the US continue to skyrocket.
As of this Tuesday, the country registered at least 12.5 million cases and almost 260,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
These figures are higher than those of any other country.
This has been the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.
The gray bars represent the number of new cases reported each day.
The red dotted line shows the seven-day moving average.
"In some areas, we will see the health care system overloaded," Redfield warned.
“This is why, again, vigilance in mitigation steps is so important to prevent those healthcare systems from reaching the limit in terms of being able to maintain their resilience, not just to serve people with covid. -19, but to serve (people) without covid-19 ».
Experts now implore people to stay home for Thanksgiving.
Additionally, officials across the country are preparing new rules and other measures to help cope with the growing pandemic.
Admiral Brett Giroir, the health department's undersecretary for health, said that if a person decides to travel, they shouldn't bother to get tested first.
“You realize the CDC doesn't say that an important mitigation step is getting tested before traveling during the holidays.
Because that does not mean that you are free (of covid-19), "said Giroir at a press conference on Tuesday.
“And, in fact, we know that a single test can provide a false sense of security.
You still have to wear your mask and everything else, ”he insisted.
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The end of the pandemic is in sight, Giroir said.
"We have to redouble public health measures," he added.
"We know what to do."
States begin to implement strong restrictions against coronavirus
The United States has reported more than 3.3 million cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of November.
It is the highest number of infections that has been recorded in a single month.
The average of new daily infections over a week reached more than 196,000 this Monday - also the highest on record - according to data from Johns Hopkins.
And this surge in cases has prompted states to reinstate or revert to restrictions.
Louisiana rolled back to phase two of its restrictions, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday.
Which means restaurants, gyms and non-essential businesses are limited to 50% of their capacity.
As for churches and places of worship, their limit will be 75% capacity.
Additionally, masks and social distancing should be worn, Edwards said.
Confidence increases in the vaccine against covid-19 0:45
Edwards also limited indoor meetings to 25% capacity or no more than 75 people.
Meanwhile, outdoor meetings may not exceed 150 people.
Spectator sporting events are limited to 25% capacity.
In El Paso County in Texas, where the National Guard has been deployed to help morgues handle a surge in deaths, a county judge said Tuesday that he will soon issue a new curfew order to help detain the propagation.
In New York, Staten Island officials reopened a Covid-19 emergency facility that had 200 patients in the spring, this time to help manage hospitalization levels that have nearly tripled in the state in the past three weeks. Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
North Carolina strengthens its order for the use of masks, beginning this Wednesday.
That is, everyone should wear face protection whenever they are with someone who is not from the same household and whenever they are in any closed public space, even when they maintain their distance.
Most Americans Changed Their Thanksgiving Plans, Survey Finds
Things will get worse in the coming weeks, before improvement begins to be seen with the help of possible vaccines, experts warned.
Millions of people travel for Thanksgiving, despite the CDC recommending against it.
But 61% of Americans modified their Thanksgiving plans in some way due to the increase in COVID-19 cases, according to survey results released Tuesday by Axios-Ipsos.
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The most common changes reported were deciding to see only immediate household members and having a smaller dinner than originally planned, according to the survey.
The survey was based on a nationally representative sample of 1,002 American adults.
It took place from November 20 to 23.
About 9% said they no longer plan to celebrate the holiday.
Among those who changed their plans is Governor Cuomo of New York.
Cuomo had told WAMC radio host Alan Chartock on Monday that his mother planned to travel to Albany to reunite with him and two of their daughters.
Just for Thanksgiving.
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At a press conference later that day, Cuomo warned New Yorkers that the coronavirus would make traditional celebrations dangerous.
The apparent contradiction drew the ire of some people on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Cuomo's advisor Rich Azzopardi told CNN that the governor had changed his plans.
"Given the circumstances with the covid-19, he will have to work during Thanksgiving and will not see (his family members)," said Azzopardi.
Coronavirus Task Force Calls for 'Significant Change in Behavior of All Americans'
As vaccine clinical trials continue, Redfield said it's important to collect safety data on coronavirus vaccines in pregnant women and children.
“Obviously, it is quite normal that when we bring new products to humans, we initially leave out pregnant women.
However, I can tell you that they will be a target to show safety and efficacy in that group very quickly, "said Redfield, during his interview Tuesday with Fox News.
I think they will see that this will happen fairly quickly.
As we are going to see that the studies also begin to analyze the safety and immunogenicity in children, "he said.
Redfield said he expects a coronavirus vaccine to be available to the general public in March.
The federal government has said that 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines could be available by the end of December.
Even with that tentative timeline, it could take the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “days” to discuss issuing an emergency use authorization for a potential COVID-19 vaccine. 19, said FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.
A vaccine must go through the FDA Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee (VRBPAC).
Its members will meet on December 10 to discuss Pfizer and BioNTech's request for an emergency use authorization for their vaccine.
"That committee ... will send their comments and recommendations to the FDA," Hahn said.
"Only then can the FDA make a final decision on a vaccine," he explained.
And while the vaccines are being distributed, the White House coronavirus task force calls for "a significant change in the behavior of all Americans."
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The most aggressive testing efforts, the task force said, "must be combined with meaningful behavior change for all Americans."
«Make sure to wear the masks at all times in public.
Increase physical distancing by significantly reducing capacity in public and private interior spaces.
And ensure that all Americans understand the clear risks of ANY family or friend interaction outside their immediate home indoors without masks, "the task force said in a series of Nov. 22 reports obtained by CNN.
The United States is pushing to make the kinds of tests that were used in the NBA bubble more available to the American public.
This was pointed out by Giroir, undersecretary of the Department of Health.
"If it's good enough for LeBron, it should be good enough for the rest of the American people," Giroir said.
States must also flatten the curve "to sustain the health system for covid-19 and not covid-19 emergencies," the reports read.
The task force also encouraged states to make a plan to test college students.
"Ensure that all universities that return in the winter give mandatory weekly exams to all students on and off campus," read the reports.
"Planning for that must start now."
CNN's Kay Jones, Alexandra Meeks, Shelby Lin Erdman, Naomi Thomas, Anna Sturla, Jamiel Lynch, Elizabeth Cohen, and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.
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