U.S. Coronavirus Update: Cases Surpass 10 Million Nationwide As Global Total Hits 50 Million

UPDATED with latest: Coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed 10 million on Monday, with most states seeing spikes that are higher than during the original surge by the pandemic. The grim milestone was reported by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, which also said that the global total of COVID-19 cases is now above 50 million.

The news comes the same day as U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said early trials of its coronavirus vaccine were 90% effective. It prompted the stock market to soar more than 1,000 points in mid-day trading.

Still, the rise in cases in the U.S. is striking – the national passed the 9 million total on October 30, just 10 days ago. According to Johns Hopkins data, there have been 108,737 new cases a day, with Saturday setting a pandemic-high 128,412 cases. A total of 30 states set new case records during the month of October.

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A total of 237,835 deaths have been reported in the U.S. as of Monday, Johns Hopkins says, growing the global total to 1.26 million.

PREVIOUSLY, October 23: The New York Times reported that hospitalizations have jumped more than 40% across the country in the past month, raising concerns that the healthcare system could be overwhelmed. That would drastically increase the mortality rate, as Americans needing hospital care would be left to face the virus on their own.

As infections spike in more rural parts of the country, smaller hospital systems are in danger of being overrun.

NYT:

A hospital in Idaho is 99 percent full and warning that it may have to transfer coronavirus patients to hospitals in Seattle and Portland, Ore. Medical centers in Kansas City, Mo., turned away ambulances on a recent day because they had no room for more patients. And in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee, an emergency field hospital erected on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair admitted its first virus patient this week.

In California, the state saw a spike in cases to levels not seen since late August, while deaths in the state also spiked. Its biggest county — Los Angeles — saw a near record spike in daily infections, with 3600 recorded.

PREVIOUSLY, September 25: Three days after Johns Hopkins University reported that more than 200,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus, the nation crossed another grim milestone. On Friday, Johns Hopkins revealed that more than 7 million people in the U.S. have had coronavirus. It’s a staggering number, and places the country more than one million infections beyond the next closes nation, India. Johns Hopkins reports there have been 32 million COVID-19 cases recorded to date worldwide.

It’s eye-opening news for a country that has long led the world in infectious disease research and control. And it comes at a time when

The country breached 7 million infections at a moment when 23 states, most across the middle of the country, reported new cases on the rise compared to the previous week, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins data.

It also came as America’s most populous state, California, teetered on the edge of 800,000 cases since the pandemic began. Texas is the second hardest hit, with 747,000 cases, followed by Florida with about 695,000 infections.

The rate of new cases nationwide has risen 9% in the past week. The seven-day average of daily cases nationwide is now more than 43,000.

Florida partially reopened its bars and restaurants on Friday.