The United States has become the first nation to surpass 10 million coronavirus infections. The third wave of the COVID-19 virus surges across the country. The bleak milestone was reached on the same day as the global coronavirus cases exceeding 50 million. The U.S. now accounts for roughly 1/5th of it. The country witnessed such a dramatic increase from one known infection to 10 million in just ten months.
According to John Hopkins University data, the virus is now spreading exponentially in all regions of the country as 43 states reported at least 10% more new Covid-19 cases compared to last week. They also added that the most recent 1 million infections happened faster than any previous million in just ten days.
A Reuters analysis shows that the latest reported seven-day average of the U.S., 105,600 daily cases, ramped up by at least 29%, is more than the combined average for India and France, two of the worst affected countries in Asia and Europe. And the daily average of reported new deaths in the United States accounts for one in every 11 deaths reported globally every day.
To add to the grim situation, the rate of new infections is far outpacing the rate of testing. The Covid Tracking Project data show that the average daily number of new cases soared 34% over the past week. Still, testing has only increased 7.41% over the past week. More than 237,000 Americans have already died of COVID-19 infections during the last one year.
The newly elected President of the U.S, Joe Biden, who spent much of his election campaign criticizing President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, pledged on Saturday that his top priority would be to tackle the pandemic.
Biden will announce a 12-member task force to deal with the pandemic led by the former surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, David Kessler. The coronavirus task force will be responsible for developing a blueprint for containing the virus once Biden assumes office in January. Taking note of the “real and alarming increases” in Covid-19 cases, Los Angeles Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced that anyone who didn’t regularly stay 6 feet away from others or wear a face covering celebrations or protests is recommended to get a coronavirus test.
