Healthcare

US Sets New Single-Day Coronavirus Case Record, Enters ‘Darkest’ Period Of Pandemic

The U.S. reported a record number of new coronavirus cases Thursday, breaking the previous record set in July, according to NBC News.

There were 77,640 new cases recorded nationwide Thursday, which surpassed the previous record of 75,723 set July 29, according to data compiled by NBC News. The record comes amidst a renewed surge of the virus in various parts of the country, The New York Times reported.

“The next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the entire pandemic,” University of Minnesota infectious diseases expert Dr. Michael Osterholm said, according to The Times.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Montana are leading the surge with more cases per million than any other state, according to The Financial Times database updated Thursday. Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin and California have reported more total cases than any other state.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deputy director for infectious diseases Dr. Jay Butler characterized the recent spike in cases as a “distressing trend” on Wednesday.

Hospitalizations have steadily increased recently as well, according to The COVID Tracking Project. More people are currently hospitalized in Ohio than at any other point during the pandemic, The Times reported.

There have been more than 223,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. since the virus outbreak in the spring, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Meanwhile, the development of potential coronavirus vaccines continues to progress rapidly. Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar said Wednesday that he expects a coronavirus vaccine to be available for vulnerable Americans by January 2021.

The U.S. government has given significant funding and resources to pharmaceutical companies since March as part of Operation Warp Speed, the multiagency effort to produce a coronavirus vaccine quickly. Trump declared a national emergency in March as coronavirus spread rapidly around the world.