As we near the end of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge on. For the first time this year, health officials have recorded 100,000 COVID-19 related hospitalizations. This news comes six days after the country recorded more than 90,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Thanksgiving.
The breakdown of the 100,000 hospitalizations is equally frightening. Of the 100,000 hospitalizations, nearly 20,000 are in the intensive care unit. Furthermore, 6,855 need the assistance of a ventilator.
Our daily update is published. States reported 1.4 million tests, 196k cases, and 2,733 deaths. There are 100,226 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the US —the first time hospitalizations have exceeded 100k. pic.twitter.com/8QSKujBGao
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) December 3, 2020
Making matters worse, the U.S. has also set its single-day COVID-19 positive test record yet again. On Wednesday, more than 195,000 tested positive for the virus. Adding on, the country experienced 2,733 deaths in one day. That is also a single-day record.
The one glimmer of hope appears to be the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna have both applied for emergency use of their respective vaccines. If approved, the two companies could initially distribute 40.5 million doses of the vaccine. Pfizer’s vaccine could arrive as early as December 15 and Moderna’s would arrive a week later.
