United States records over 1,000 deaths for fourth straight day.
White flags at the D.C. Armory parade ground in Washington last month, meant to represent those who have died from Covid-19 in the United States.
White flags at the D.C. Armory parade ground in Washington last month, meant to represent those who have died from Covid-19 in the United States.Credit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times
As the eyes of a tired nation remained transfixed on the results of the presidential election, the United States set a daily record for new cases for the third straight day, with more than 129,000 new cases on Friday. And it reported more than 1,000 deaths for the fourth straight day, the first such stretch since August.
The United States first reported a record of over 107,000 cases in a single day on Wednesday. On Thursday, it was over 121,000 new cases, another record, according to a New York Times database.
The country recorded at least 1,211 deaths on Friday. It was the first time over 1,000 deaths had been recorded for four consecutive days since Aug. 25-28.
At least 16 states have already reported single day records for new cases on Friday. And three states reported record deaths: Kansas, South Dakota and Utah.
In at least 24 states, there have been more cases announced in the past week than in any other seven-day stretch since the pandemic began. More than 54,800 people were hospitalized with the virus on Friday, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
Driven by surges in the United States and Europe, new daily cases have surpassed 605,000 globally for the first time and a harrowing 50 million total cases appears to be close on the horizon.
In Europe, several countries reported single-day records for new cases on Thursday, including France with 58,046, Germany with 21,506 and Italy with 34,502.
Across the continent, hospitals and health care systems are stretched thin, prompting fresh lockdowns and restrictions.
Portugal declared a new state of emergency on Friday. Romania, which passed 10,000 daily cases for the first time, announced that it would close schools and implement an overnight curfew. Poland reported a record 445 virus deaths on Friday and admitted the first patient to its new field hospital at a stadium in Warsaw.
Globally, the virus claimed 8,562 lives on Thursday, bringing the world’s death toll to at least 1,236,100 since the pandemic began. Both new infections and deaths have risen more than 30 percent in the past 14 days.
The number of confirmed cases lags behind the true number of infections, though it is guesswork to say by how much. Countries around the world have worked to increase their testing capacity, but the new surges are straining even that in some places.
Germany, which had been lauded for its testing capacity early on, is tightening the rules governing who gets a test paid for by the public health insurers. Under new rules those with flulike symptoms are only eligible if they also belong to a high-risk group, or can prove contact to someone either infected or at high risk of becoming infected.
“Test, test test — but target,” read a government announcement released on Friday. In the first week of November, the country’s labs were able to handle nearly 1.6 million tests a day, but as the new cases rise and with more people becoming sick with seasonal flu, the system is under stress.
— Rebecca Halleck and Ian Austen The New York Times