UPDATE, NOV 13:

The US again shatters its daily Coronavirus record on Thursday, with 152,194 cases.

The surge, following Wednesday’s 143,554 cases, takes the total to 10,552,821. There have been more than 100,000 infections on each of the past nine days, with records set on six of them. Cases are rising in 46 states, with 31 setting weekly records on Wednesday, and at least 10 posting daily highs yesterday.

The US death toll is now 242,423, with 625 fatalities on Thursday. The daily average is more than 1,000 over the past week.

Hospitalizations also set a record for the third straight day, reaching 67,096 and doubling in the past five weeks.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, fifth in the US in cases and sixth in deaths, is the latest state leader to speak of new Coronavirus measures. He said he might impose a stay-at-home order: “We’re running out of time and we’re running out of options.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced limits on gatherings to 10 people whether inside or outside, and issued a non-binding “stay-at-home advisory”.

A message from California Governor Gavin Newsom:

President-elect Joe Biden conferred with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer on Thursday about “the intensifying Covid-19 pandemic and the growing economic pain facing so many Americans”.

They discussed “the urgent need” for a $2 trillion Coronavirus relief bill, negotiated with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin but blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before the election.


ORIGINAL ENTRY, NOV. 12:

The US records more than 1.1 million Coronavirus cases in 10 days with 2,125 deaths in 24 hours.

The total of confirmed cases reached 10,400,227 on Wednesday, with a record daily rise of 143,554. The death toll is 241,798.

Texas became the first state to record more than a million cases. A record 62,000 people were in hospital on Tuesday, with and 17 states reporting daily records.

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health said on Wednesday morning:

In the last couple of months you have seen the federal government basically throw in the towel. There’s been no new guidance, very little effort coming from the federal government and I think that is definitely contributing to a nationwide surge.

Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Coronavirus Task force, said daily cases may soon double:

We are watching cases increase substantially in this country far beyond, I think, what most people ever thought could happen. It will not surprise me if in the next weeks we see over 200,000 new cases a day.

He warned hospitals are “about to be overrun”.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, the initial center of the pandemic, ordered all restaurants, bars, and gyms to close at 10 p.m., and issued a ban on private gatherings with more than 10 people from Friday.

In contrast to the surge in Texas and other states, New York has largely contained the virus since the spring. But it still leads the US with 33,848 deaths, amid 540,965 confirmed cases.

The state’s seven-day average rate of positive test results is 2.43%, the highest since late May.

In neighboring New Jersey, Gov. Philip Murphy imposed new limits on indoor dining as hospitalizations more than doubled in the last month, from 653 to 1,801. Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut, with its highest total of patients since May 29, limited all private gatherings in the state to 10 people, lowered capacity limits on restaurants, and allowed the hardest-hit areas to reimpose limits on other businesses.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, speaking of a “third wave” of the pandemic, said a mask mandate will be reissued and warned that residents are not observing an order that limits gatherings of more than 10 people. A decision will be taken next week on whether to keep bars, restaurants, and other businesses open.

Ohio had a daily record of 6,500 cases on Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose guidance has been repeatedly quashed by Trump staff, bolstered its advice in advance of the Thanksgiving holidays.

The CDC wrote on Tuesday, “Traditional Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends are fun but can increase the chances of getting or spreading Covid-19 or the flu….The safest way to celebrate this year is to celebrate with people in your household.”

If there are celebrations with other households, masks should be worn. Meals are better eaten outdoors, with each household bringing its own food and drinks, disposable plates and utensils, and single-use condiments.

Meanwhile three more White House staff tested positive, in the latest wave through the Executive Branch.

Among the cases is Brian Jack, the political director, who was at a “super-spreader” Election Night event at the White House. Few among the hundreds attendees wore masks or socially distanced.

Last week both White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Dr. Ben Carson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, tested positive.

Biden’s Emphasis on Pandemic

In his latest step to deal with the pandemic mismanaged by the Trump Administration, President-elect Biden named Ron Klain as his White House Chief of Staff.

Klain, who has worked with Biden since the 1980s, oversaw the Obama Administration’s measures to deal with the Ebola outbreak in 2014. He has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump’s actions throughout the Coronavirus crisis.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren summarized that Klain is a “superb choice for Chief of Staff. He understands the magnitude of the health and economic crisis and he has the experience to lead this next administration through it.”

Biden wrote in a statement, “His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again.”

The Biden transition has already named a 13-member Coronavirus Task Force of experts in medicine, public health, and technology. It will oversee a doubling of drive-through testing sites; a US public health job corps organizing 100,000 Americans for contact tracing; increased production of masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment; and pursuit of the development and distribution of a vaccine.