Coronavirus update: U.S. new cases jump 20% to record 121,200 in a single day

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Just one day after the U.S. for the first time surpassed 100,000 new cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19 in a single day, it set a fresh record that was 20% higher, straining hospitals in areas of the Midwest and South as they struggle to cope with an influx of patients.

The U.S. reported at least 121,200 new cases on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, and at least 1,108 people died. In the last week, the U.S. has averaged 96,231 cases a day, an increase of 54% over the average of two weeks ago.

Data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University show 13 states posted record case numbers on Thursday, including Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska and North Dakota.

North Dakota’s hospital system is at 90% capacity, according to the state health department. Dr. Jeffrey Sather, the chief of staff at Trinity Hospital in Minot, said Tuesday, “We North Dakotans are in crisis,” the Dickinson Press reported.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum moved nearly two dozen counties up a risk level on the state’s five-level color-coded system on Thursday, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

An Associated Press analysis of 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — voted for incumbent President Donald Trump, and most were areas with little compliance with public safety measures recommended by experts in place.

Most were rural counties in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin, where few people are reportedly socially distancing or wearing face masks. ...

In other news:

• A poll worker in Missouri who tested positive for COVID-19 at a private lab on Oct. 30 failed to follow the advice of the lab to quarantine for 14 days, according to a statement from the St. Charles County health department and the county election authority. The worker showed up at the County’s Precinct 41 polling site, where 1,858 people voted. “Authorities have informed the County that this individual has died, although a cause of death has not been given at this time,” said the statement. Election workers who were at the site have been informed, and officials are working with family members to trace contacts. ...

• China is banning foreign arrivals from France and other countries that are experiencing a surge of infections, the Guardian reported. China, where the disease was first reported late last year, has had 91,558 cases and 4,740 fatalities, according to its official numbers. Beijing said the new restrictions are “reasonable and fair” and said it was following the practices of other countries.

 

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