Daily coronavirus deaths near 2,600 -- their highest since April -- and are expected to get worse

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Wed, 2020-12-02 08:47 — mike kraft

Daily coronavirus deaths near 2,600 -- their highest since April -- and are expected to get worse The US reported the second highest day of Covid-19 deaths Tuesday, as rising hospitalizations signal even more deaths in the coming weeks. Madeline Holcombe, CNN CNN

( CNN) The US reported the second highest day of Covid-19 deaths Tuesday, as rising hospitalizations signal even more deaths in the coming weeks.

There were 2,597 new deaths reported across the US, bringing the total death toll to 270,642 in a pandemic that has infected more than 13.7 million people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The only day to top it was April 15, when six more deaths were recorded.

And as coronavirus hospitalizations continue to rise, the number of deaths is predicted to get even worse.

Over the course of December, if no policies or use of masks change, the US is projected to have more than double the number of new coronavirus deaths that were reported in November, according to a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

That would bring the death toll to more than 336,000 by the end of this year. ...

The new high in coronavirus deaths coincides with the highest day in hospitalizations the US has seen since the pandemic started. The COVID Tracking Project recorded 47,531 people in the hospital battling the coronavirus on November 1, and by Tuesday, that number more than doubled to 98,691. Within days, that number could exceed 100,000, the COVID Tracking Project said.

November was marked by those daunting records, with hospitalizations at their highest at least 20 days of the month. With the fallout from the holidays still to come, health experts warn things will likely get worse over the coming weeks.

Maryland hospitals, which have already seen a 51% increase in coronavirus hospitalizations, are preparing for that impact and have until December 8 to submit their detailed strategies to expand bed and staff capacities, including encouraging universities to allow qualified health care students to graduate early and join the workforce, Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday. ..

Oregon reported its highest number of single day deaths, Texas set its record for single day increases in cases with more than 15,000, and Mississippi had the highest level of hospitalizations so far, state officials said. ...

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