It is the country with the most infections in the world, ahead of India and Brazil. In addition, the deaths from the disease are already 255,414, above the projections of the White House
The United States surpassed 12 million confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus this Saturday, six days after reaching 11 million infections. In total, the country registered 12,019,960 infections, and reached 255,414 deaths from the COVID-19 disease, according to the independent count from Johns Hopkins University.
This balance represents 197,215 new infections and 1,878 additional deaths compared to Thursday.
The United States set an absolute record for new infections on Thursday, with 200,146 more cases than on Wednesday and also the highest number of deaths in 24 hours -2,239- since the beginning of May, in the middle of the explosion of the pandemic.
Despite the fact that New York is no longer the state with the highest number of infections, it remains the worst hit in terms of deaths in the United States with 34,252.
It is followed by a number of deaths by Texas (20,748), California (18,595), Florida ( 17,889), and New Jersey (16,712). Other states with a large death toll are Illinois (11,795), Massachusetts (10,469), Pennsylvania (9,676), Georgia (9,142), or Michigan (8,774).
In terms of infections, Texas has 1,114,545, followed by California with 1,084,348, third is Florida with 923,418, Illinois is fourth with 634,395, and New York fifth with 584,850.
But there are more than 40 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam that showed percentage increases in the new daily cases detected during the last 14 days. Of them, a dozen are experiencing an upturn in infections.
Meanwhile, local authorities continue to implement new restrictions, such as Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who has just imposed the mandatory use of a mask in public spaces. Several states have also introduced the mandatory mask and have urged their inhabitants not to travel on Thanksgiving.
The provisional death toll – 254,297 – far exceeds the lower limit of the initial estimates of the White House, which in the best of cases projected between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths from the pandemic.
US President Donald Trump lowered those estimates and was confident that the final figure would rather be between 50,000 and 60,000 deaths, although later he predicted up to 110,000 deaths, a number that has also been exceeded.
For its part, the Institute for Health Metrics and Assessments (IHME) of the University of Washington, whose models for predicting the evolution of the pandemic are often set by the White House, estimates that by the end of the year the United States will reach the 320,000 deceased and by March 1 at 440,000.
40 million doses by the end of the year
The United States expects to have 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press conference on Friday.
Regarding the vaccine, we believe that 40 million doses will be available by the end of the year,” McEnany said at a press conference, the first since October 1.
McEnany recalled the advances experienced by Pfizer and Moderna, who have reported “successful results” in their vaccines: “Each has achieved a vaccine for covid that is around 90% effective. We know that Moderna’s is 94.5% effective and Pfizer’s 95%, this is extraordinary, ”he said.
During the press conference, McEnany insisted on attributing the progress in vaccines to the management of the outgoing president, Donald Trump , despite the fact that at the beginning of the pandemic he intentionally underestimated the importance of the disease, which he himself has recognized, so that the population did not panic, and he refused to wear a mask in public for several months.
With information from AFP, EFE, EuropaPress
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
