Daily COVID-19 infections in the United States are rapidly moving close to the 2,00,000 mark with new cases reaching the highest point since the pandemic began.
With 1,88,146 new cases reporting in the last 24 hours, the country's total number of COVID-19 infections increased to 11717953, as per latest data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
This is a 10 percent-plus rise from the previous day, and for the first time that COVID cases are crossing the 180000 threshold a day.
COVID casualties crossed 2000 in the same period. 2018 deaths in the last 24 hours took the total to 252555.
The U.S. outbreak has reached a point where the rate of increase now is not in thousands, but multiplying in tens of thousands since the beginning of this month.
More than 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last 7 days.
As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to postpone travelling during Thanksgiving.
"The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with," CDC said in its latest update Thursday.
"Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu," the federal health agency said in a warning issued a week ahead of the US Holiday.
There have been reports that as cases surge, consumers are back to panic-buying toilet paper and household goods.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has advised not to use the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat patients hospitalized with the viral disease.
On Friday, WHO issued a conditional recommendation against the use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients, saying, "regardless of disease severity, there is currently no evidence that remdesivir improves survival and other outcomes in these patients".
The situation overseas also is getting worse. A covid-19 -related death is happening in Europe every 17 seconds on average in the past week, a World Health Organization official said Thursday.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
