The United States reached a grim new milestone as the number of daily coronavirus cases topped 100,000 for the first time on Wednesday (November 4). There were 102,831 new cases of COVID-19 reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. That broke the previous record, which was set last week, and pushed the seven-day national average of new cases to a record 89,858.
There were 1,097 deaths recorded on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 233,734 in the U.S.
The drastic rise in new cases is pushing many hospitals around the country to the brink. Missouri, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and New Mexico all saw their seven-day average number of current hospitalizations soar to record highs. According to the COVID Tracking Project, there are more than 52,000 patients hospitalized across the country.
Health experts are warning that the states will have to consider reinstating lockdowns if they want to get the pandemic under control.
"The seasonal uptick has been predicted for months," Dennis Carroll, who led the pandemic unit at the federal Agency for International Development for nearly 15 years, told USA TODAY. "As it stands, we're no better prepared than the spring, meaning widespread closures and shutdowns as we are witnessing in Europe are inevitable."
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