The total number of U.S. coronavirus cases since the pandemic started has now surpassed 12 million, CNN reports — “an increase of more than 1 million cases in less than a week.”

Researchers at John Hopkins University calculate that over a quarter of a million Americans have now died from the disease.

Almost every state has reported a rapid surge in cases, and nationwide numbers have been climbing much faster than ever before — with the country reporting a staggering 2.8 million infections since the beginning of the month. On Friday, more than 195,500 new infections were reported — the country’s highest for a single day, and far beyond what the nation was seeing just weeks ago. The highest number of single-day cases during the country’s summer surge was a little more than 77,100 in July, Johns Hopkins University data shows.

The U.S. on Friday also recorded its highest number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals on a given day: just over 82,100 — according to the COVID Tracking Project. Rising death rates typically follow rising hospitalizations. In just the past week, more than 10,000 U.S. deaths have been reported — nearly double the weekly death toll of just a month ago… The virus is still running unabated in the U.S. and the rate of rising cases is now “dramatically” different from what it was before, White House Coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta….

The good news? Experts say promising vaccines are on the horizon and until then, there are things the American public can do to help hold down the virus. Those include wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding crowds and washing hands regularly. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projected this week about 65,000 lives could be saved by March 1 if 95% of Americans wore masks.

The rising graph (midway through the story) says it all.

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Source:: Slashdot