US Coronavirus: 1,707 Covid-19 deaths were reported in 1 day. That’s the highest daily death toll in 6 months

Virtually every state heading in the wrong direction

As of Wednesday, 47 states had at least 10% more new daily cases than this time last week, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Only Hawaii has seen at least a 10% decrease in new cases.

This surge in nationwide infections isn’t just due to more testing.

While new cases have increased 29% over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins, testing nationwide has increased only about 11%, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that at his state’s current rate, “1,000 Arkansans could die of Covid-19 between now and Christmas.”

Texas officials have deployed two mobile refrigerator trucks to Amarillo to handle the rise in fatalities.

In Illinois, “ICU and non-ICU hospital occupancy by Covid-19 patients could reach as much as five times our previous records from the spring.” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.

“We will continue to see a rise in both hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 for weeks ahead because of the infections that have already happened,” he said.

“But we can change our longer-term outcome. We can save potentially thousands of lives in the next few months if we make changes right now to stop this in its track.”

A stay-at-home advisory started this week in Chicago, where city officials also urged residents not to have guests in their homes, to cancel traditional Thanksgiving celebrations and avoid traveling.

Similar measures have been announced across the US in the past days.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a statewide curfew starting Thursday that will run from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

In Maryland, the governor issued an emergency order effective Friday requiring bars and restaurants to close between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., except for carryout and delivery services.

“We are in a war right now,” Gov. Larry Hogan said. “And the virus is winning. Now, more than ever, I’m pleading with the people of our state to stand together, a while longer.”

College students told to stay home after holidays

As cases surge across the US, schools and universities are also navigating what their next steps should look like, especially following a holiday season that experts fear will further fuel the rampant spread of the virus.

In Boston, Mayor Marty Walsh said the holidays are “especially high risk for college students who don’t live at home.”

“Normally, many students travel to their hometown for Thanksgiving, then return to campus for the rest of the semester,” Walsh said.

“We have asked college students not to do that this year. If you go home for Thanksgiving, you should not be returning to Boston this semester. You should do the rest of your learning … remotely.”

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont also issued guidance for out-of-state college students who were planning to return home to Connecticut for the holiday.

He said returning students should self-quarantine for 14 days before or after coming home, get tested for Covid-19 both before leaving school and after getting home, not attend parties and not quarantine with any elderly or at-risk family members.

Vaccines are still months away for most people

While there’s great news on the vaccine front, most Americans probably won’t be able to get vaccinated until the middle of next year.

But health experts say Americans must double down on safety measures, as there will be many more illnesses and deaths before a vaccine is available to most people.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said there are still several steps needed before vaccines get into the public’s arms.

“They’re going to look very carefully to be sure that everything is in order with safety and with efficacy, then they will make a judgment about whether both of these vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, may be in fact entitled to emergency use authorization,” Collins said.

The two companies could receive EUAs by early to mid-December, he added.

“If these two vaccines do get approval, emergency use authorization, there will be about 40 million doses ready to be delivered in December,” he said.

People will need two doses of either vaccine. “So that’s 20 million people that can be immunized and we will need to make sure that is utilized for the highest risk people,” he said.

More doses will become available every month after that, Collins said, and there are other vaccine candidates that may also win approval.

“The hope would be that by April we really start to see a lot of people getting immunized,” Colilns said.

“And certainly by the summer we would hope to have most of America actually immune to this and we could start to think about getting back to life as normal.”