US virus deaths top 3,100 in new single-day high

The US records over 3,100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring, while the number of Americans hospitalized with the virus has eclipsed 100,000 for the first time and new cases are topping 200,000 a day, according to figures released today.

The three benchmarks altogether show a country slipping deeper into crisis, with perhaps the worst yet to come, in part because of the delayed effects from Thanksgiving, when millions of Americans disregarded warnings to stay home and celebrate only with members of their household.

Across the US, the surge has swamped hospitals with patients and left nurses and other health care workers shorthanded and burned out.

The US recorded 3,157 deaths yesterday, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. That’s more than the number of people killed on 9/11, and it shattered the old mark of 2,603, set on April 15, when the New York metropolitan area was the epicenter of the US outbreak.

The number of people in the hospital likewise set an all-time high yesterday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. It has more than doubled over the past month.

Also, the number of newly confirmed infections climbed just over 200,000 yesterday for the second time in less than a week, by Johns Hopkins’ count.

— AP