The latest surge in Coronavirus cases set another single day mark on Saturday in the United States, as states reported over 83,000 cases, breaking a virus record established just a day earlier, as the pace of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths continues to increase.
As happened on Friday, 29 states registered over 1,000 new virus cases, showcasing the wide breadth of this increase, which has been centered in the Midwest and Plains states.
The tally of 83,734 eclipsed 82,920 registered on Friday, even though several states did not report any figures on Saturday.
The 7-day average jumped to over 66,000 new cases per day, almost equal to the high point of Coronavirus cases reached this summer of 67,060 cases on July 23.
Not only are cases increasing nationally, but hospitalizations are too, along with deaths from the Coronavirus.
Covid hospitalizations, a critical and objective measure of disease burden in the U.S., are starting to accelerate; reaching nearly 42,000 today. Criteria for admission has been tightened over time, making the high numbers more concerning. Deaths, which lag, are also rising. pic.twitter.com/oJ5SS2cM61
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) October 24, 2020
“Cases per million people in the Midwest have surpassed both the early peak in the Northeast and the summer surge in the South,” the COVID Tracking Project reported on Saturday.
On the campaign trail on Saturday, President Trump again complained about media coverage of the new virus surge, arguing the focus on cases is mistaken.
“That’s all I hear about, now. That’s all I hear. Turn on television, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID,” the President said, falsely accusing the news media of ignoring plane crashes in order to report on the Coronavirus.
But the increase in cases has now been followed by a jump in hospitalizations, as the 7-day average in virus deaths has gone up by over 100 per day in just the last week, going over 800 per day for the first time since early September, after bottoming out at 688 deaths per day earlier this month.
Trump at NC rally: "Turn on television, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. COVID, COVID, COVID. COVID. By the way, on November 4th you won't hear about it anymore."
— The Recount (@therecount) October 24, 2020
(A plane crash killing 500 didn't happen.) pic.twitter.com/NOYqTIcXGd
On the stump in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Joe Biden kept up his criticism of the President’s handling of the virus.
"At the debate on Thursday night, Donald Trump was still saying, “we’re rounding the corner...it’s going away...we’re learning to live with it,” Biden noted.
“But as I told him, we’re not learning to live with it. We’re learning to die with it, and there is a dark winter ahead,” Biden added.