US Sets Record Number of COVID-19 Deaths

As COVID-19 continues to decimate America, healthcare experts warn that the situation is going to get worse before it gets better. As we approach the end to what has been a devastating year for the U.S. as well as the world, the escalating numbers of COVID-19 cases and fatalities paint a bleak picture. On Tuesday, the nation recorded more than 3,700 new deaths from the virus and a chart-topping 124,600 hospitalized patients.

According to CNN, the current surge is crippling hospitals across the country, but especially in Los Angeles County were the number of hospitalized patients is up 1,000% from two months ago. According to the Covid Tracking Project there was also a 40% increase in ICU coronavirus patients over September’s figures of 16% in ICU units. Healthcare experts are concerned that the post-holiday surge may force facilities to ration nurses, respirators, and other medical care for these patients. This can lead to tough decisions.

“When you run out of capacity, physicians and bioethicists in these hospitals will need to decide which patients are salvageable — and which patients aren’t,” said CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

“I actually think we’re now beyond waves or surges and this is a viral tsunami that we are experiencing,” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Feilding School of Public Health, according to CNN.

The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that the situation may even get worse, with 193,000 more Americans losing their lives to COVID-19 in the next two months. Currently, more than 333,000 have succumbed to the disease. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of kids with COVID-19 is also escalating with 178,000 new cases in the week that ended on Dec. 24, says CNN.

“The next couple of months will be awful,” Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington School of Medicine, Tells CNN. “We’re going to lose 3,000, maybe more people a day probably until we are well into February. And then, we should see some light.”