This is not a regional crisis, but instead one that is intensifying almost everywhere in the country. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have higher caseloads than in mid-September. The virus is spreading in rural communities in the heartland, far from the coastal cities hammered early in the pandemic.
Wisconsin set a record Thursday when it surpassed 4,000 newly reported cases. Illinois also reported more than 4,000 cases, eclipsing records set during the state’s first wave in April and May. Ohio set a new high, as did Indiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Montana, and Colorado. In El Paso, officials have ordered new restrictions and lockdowns amid a frightening coronavirus surge.
We know that this is going to get worse before it gets better,” Wisconsin Department of Health Services secretary-designee Andrea Palm said at a briefing Thursday. “Stay home. Wear a mask. Stay six feet apart. Wash your hands frequently.”
Some hospitals in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains have become jammed with patients and are running low on intensive-care-unit beds. On Wednesday, Wisconsin opened a field hospital on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park outside Milwaukee and will eventually be able to treat more than 500 patients.
Montana reported a record 301 hospitalized covid-19 patients Thursday, with 98 percent of the inpatient beds occupied the day before in Yellowstone County, home to the city of Billings and the state’s most populous county.
During the past week, at least 20 states have set record seven-day averages for infections, and a dozen have hit record hospitalization rates, according to health department data analyzed by The Washington Post. ...
The increase in cases and hospitalizations since late August has been followed by a more modest rise in covid-19 deaths. That could reflect, in part, improved patient care from battle-tested medical workers. The widespread use of powerful steroids and other treatments has lowered mortality rates among people who are severely ill. ...
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