A nurse watches an ambulance leaving Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, New York City, April 20, 2020 (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)


UPDATE, SEPT 4:

The US 7-day average for daily Coronavirus deaths has topped 1,500, the highest point since March 9.

The 7-day average reached 1,550 after 1,978 deaths on Friday. The rate is a 725% increase from the average of 188 on July 7.

Vaccinations have broken the link between infections and deaths in much of the US. But in areas with low rates of vaccinated, especially in the South, fatalities are surging.

In Florida, with the highest total of daily deaths, vaccination is at the national average with more than 53% of people inoculated. But Gov. Ron DeSantis’s has tried to bar containment measures, including masks in public places such as schools.

See also Governors DeSantis and Abbott’s War on Masks Amid Record Coronavirus Surge in Florida and Texas

The US toll is now 647,588 deaths and 39,850,377 confirmed cases.


UPDATE, AUG 30:

US hospitalizations for Coronavirus have surpassed 100,000, matching the level of last winter’s pandemic peak.

The daily average has soared more than 500% since June, with average admissions of more than 1,000 a day for the first time since March.

Southern states in particular are facing shortages of intensive care unit beds, with Alabama at negative capacity. Florida leads the country with 16,457 hospitalizations, followed by Texas.

The US toll is now 637,531 deaths and 38,796,746 cases.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s top Coronavirus advisor, said on Sunday that up to 100,000 more deaths in the US by December are “entirely predictable and entirely preventable”.

We know we have the wherewithal with vaccines to turn this around, and the reason the numbers are so alarming is that we have about 80 million people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not yet vaccinated.

We could turn this thing around and we can do it efficiently and quickly if we could just get those people vaccinated. It’s so important that people in this crisis put aside any ideological and political differences and just get vaccinated.


ORIGINAL ENTRY, AUG 29: Coronavirus deaths are rising in 42 of 50 US states amid the Delta variant and a minority of Americans who are refusing vaccinations.

Johns Hopkins University reported on Friday that deaths increased by more than 50% over the past week in 14 states, and by more than 10% in the other 28.

Overall, the US daily death toll has almost doubled over the past 14 days, reaching 1,281 — the highest point since March 16.

See also Coronavirus — Biden Acts as US Intensive Care Units Near Capacity

In Alabama, with intensive care units filled beyond capacity, health officials are using mobile trailers for bodies.

Dr Scott Harris said two of four refrigerated trailers have been employed for the first time in the pandemic.

We have enough people dying…that there is no room to put these bodies. We are really in a crisis situation….I don’t know how much longer we’re going to be able to do this.

Alabama reported 66 Coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, the highest number since February 25. The 7-day average of 31 per day is the greatest since March 26.

The state’s rate of 23% positive tests is the highest in the US. It is not just the elderly and vulnerable who are affected. At least 5,571 Alabama children were among the positive cases in the past week. Of the 2,879 people hospitalized on Thursday, 45 are children, with at least five on ventilators.

Almost 53% of Americans are fully vaccinated, but only half of US states and Washington DC have passed the 50% mark.

Alabama’s rate of less than 37% is the lowest in the country.