The United States is beginning to show signs of a post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID-19 cases, with health experts getting increasingly concerned that December may become the deadliest month of the pandemic to date.
According to the COVID Tracking Project, the United States had on average nearly 200,000 new cases a day over the last week, with more than 2,200 people, on average, dying daily in the same time frame.
Specifically, the latest tally by the New York Times shows that there has been an average of 201,778 cases per day in the last week, which is an increase of 17% from the average two weeks earlier. In addition, the number of hospitalized patients on December 7 was 102,148, the highest figure recorded yet.
Although new case numbers are falling in some states like Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and New Mexico, some of the US’ largest cities, including areas of the Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California, are adding thousands of new cases daily. In fact, over the last week, new case numbers have risen or stayed level in 39 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, according to the Times tally.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell on Monday during the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit that the US has yet to see the entire impact that Thanksgiving gatherings will have on COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
"The blip from Thanksgiving isn't even here yet," Fauci told O'Donnell.
"So we're getting those staggering numbers of new cases and hospitalizations before we even feel the full brunt of the Thanksgiving holiday," Fauci added, also warning that cases could spike dramatically due to Christmas and New Year’s festivities if Americans ignore medical advice and behave recklessly.
Before the Thanksgiving holiday took place late last month, health experts were already urging people to avoid travel and large gatherings.
"One of our concerns is people over the holiday season will get together, and they may actually be bringing infection with them to that small gathering and not even know it," Dr. Henry Walke, the COVID-19 incident manager for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a conference call last month.
As cases continue to spike, US states are preparing to distribute a vaccine this month. Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer have both completed phase 3 clinical trials of their vaccines and have applied for emergency approval for their drugs from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Documents published Tuesday by the FDA shows that the vaccine made by Pfizer and German company BioNtech provides strong protection against the novel coronavirus within 10 days of the first dose, the New York Times reported.
