The United States registered a new record of deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours, with more than 3,930 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, a reference center in the field.
At the same time, the country counts more than 250,000 new infections, according to a count carried out by the AFP of the university’s figures, which are continuously updated.
The number of people hospitalized has also reached an unprecedented level since the start of the pandemic, with more than 131,000 patients occupying beds due to COVID-19, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project.
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The situation is particularly worrying in the south and west of the country.
Overwhelmed, the emergency services in the city of Los Angeles began to ration oxygen and beds. They are also asking paramedics to no longer transport certain cardiac arrest patients to hospitals with almost zero chance of survival.
The previous record for deaths in a day was recorded six days ago, with more than 3,920 dead.
The United States has faced a dramatic rebound in the epidemic since the fall.
Since late November, the number of daily deaths has risen dramatically: it now almost consistently exceeds 2,000 or even 3,000 deaths per day (except on weekends, when the increases are minor).
The aftermath of the end-of-year holiday gatherings should make the situation worse.
The country, where restrictions depend on local authorities, is ultimately counting on the vaccination campaign to overcome the pandemic. This started in mid-December.
But so far less than 2% of the population has been immunized, and 4.8 million people have received a first injection.
On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, spoke with his future team in charge of the health crisis.
“Various options” were discussed to accelerate vaccine distribution, including the possibility of “increasing the role of the federal government,” according to a statement.
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