Coronavirus: The Mountain West region, in the throes of a coronavirus surge, appears to be headed for a long winter.
In Colorado, hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients have tripled since early September and could overwhelm the state’s intensive care units this winter, as new coronavirus cases set daily records.
On Monday in Utah, intensive care units were at over 71 percent capacity.
Idaho, where Gov. Brad Little has restored restrictions on large gatherings, is averaging about 850 new cases each day, more than triple the numbers seen just six weeks ago. In eastern Idaho, the Rexburg metro area has one of the highest rates of new cases per capita in the nation. In the north, Kootenai Health hospital has warned that the facility could exceed capacity and be forced to send patients to Seattle or Portland, Ore.
Hospitalizations in Wyoming have more than doubled in the past two weeks. Gov. Mark Gordon said on Monday that he was under a 14-day quarantine after attending a meeting with someone who tested positive for the virus.
Eastward, two battleground states that will play a pivotal role in tomorrow’s election set records for new cases Monday: Michigan and Pennsylvania.
And as the presidential race comes to a close, the outbreak in the key state of Wisconsin is only getting worse. More than 32,000 cases and more than 290 deaths have been announced in state over the last week. Ten of the 20 U.S. metro areas with the highest rates of recent cases are there.
And in Texas, now a fiercely competitive state, the El Paso area has the nation’s third-highest per capita rate for new cases. Deaths are surging beyond the area’s ability to handle the bodies, and El Paso County is setting up a fourth mobile morgue.
The tallies for the country as a whole tell an equally stunning story: The United States set records on Sunday for the average number of new virus cases over a seven-day period — more than 82,000 daily — and the total number of new cases over the same amount of time — more than 579,000 cases. On Monday, it tallied more than 93,000 cases, its second-highest daily total.
As the surge has quickened, it has also widened, reaching the Northeast, which bore the brunt of the nation’s first wave.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker issued a stay-at-home advisory for the hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., beginning on Friday. The advisory urges people to “only leave home to go to work or school, or for essential needs,” like emergency medical care or going to the grocery store. It also discourages gatherings at home with “anybody outside of your household.”
The order will close businesses like movie theaters, casinos, gyms and pools at 9:30 p.m. The governor also put restrictions on private events, regardless of the time, limiting indoor gatherings to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 25.
In Connecticut, where new cases have risen about 85 percent in two weeks, Gov. Ned Lamont announced similar restrictions amid a surge. Starting Friday, restaurants will be limited to eight people per table and must close for indoor dining at 9:30 p.m.
New Jersey, whose governor recently emerged from a self-quarantine, reported 1,379 new cases on Monday, the 16th straight day of more than 1,000 cases. Hospitalizations for confirmed or suspected cases exceeded 1,000 for the sixth consecutive day.
New cases per day in the state have increased by 92 percent over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. As of Sunday, there was an average of 1,306 new cases per day over the past week.
At a campaign rally on Monday, Mr. Trump repeated an assertion he has made several times in recent days: of the virus, “we’re rounding the corner.” Mr. Trump made the statement in Pennsylvania, a state both campaigns see as crucial to victory on Tuesday.
The state reported 2,749 new cases on Monday, a record.
— Ethan Hauser and Jack Healy
Me: So 9 Million Americans so far have Coronavirus and 100,000 a day are getting infected by it, so just how many Americans are there in America anyway – is this 10%, 50% or more of the total population?