U.S. Breaks Hospitalization Record As Texas Hits 1 Million Cases

ACROSS AMERICA — As the United States hits a record number of hospitalizations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns Americans to avoid their usual Thanksgiving Day celebrations, Texas became the first U.S. state Wednesday to hit 1 million reported cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the numbers from a different perspective: If Texas were a country, it would have the 11th highest case count in the world.

The Lone Star State hit the sobering milestone as it reported a second consecutive day of more than 10,000 coronavirus cases, topping the record set the day prior.

The United States also continues to shatter its own records. As of Tuesday, the national seven-day case average was at more than 123,000 per day, according to a New York Times database. For the first time, new cases surpassed 139,000 on Tuesday.

On the top of the staggering new average, 65,368 people were hospitalized across the country with COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, the largest number at any point during the pandemic.

As death rates rise, Texas has not been spared. As El Paso County battles spikes in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, county officials told CNN they had requested four more trailers in addition to the six mobile morgues already on the ground.

The county is among the hardest hit in the country, CNN reported. Hundreds of personnel have been sent by the state to assist local hospitals, and an alternate care site at a convention center in El Paso is also up and running.

As the United States grapples with the recent spike, the CDC is warning Americans that traditional Thanksgiving activities may not be safe in preventing the spread of the virus.

In its latest set of holiday guidelines, the CDC on Wednesday recommended celebrating Thanksgiving only with members of one's own household. However, if people choose to go out with larger groups, it's safest to wear a two-layer mask, stay at least 6 feet apart from others and not share plates or utensils while attending a meal gathering.

Lower-risk options for the holiday celebration include hosting a virtual meal, finding a fun game to play at home and limiting sales purchases to online.

The holiday safety tips come as the CDC also updated its guidance on masks to specifically declare that they protect the wearer as well as others. Masks with "multiple layers of cloth" are more effective than ones with a single layer, according to the CDC.

Mask-wearing policies are likely to continue even after a coronavirus vaccine is fully developed and approved, health experts have said. At least one vaccine's approval remains on track to be released before the end of the year.

The vaccine that Pfizer said is 90 percent effective could be ready for the most vulnerable patients sometime in December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday in an MSNBC interview.

First, an emergency authorization must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. If that happens, Fauci said he trusts Pfizer and would take the vaccine himself.

Finally, the federal government's approach to the coronavirus could soon change dramatically as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take the White House in January as the nation's 46th president.

Biden has already named 13 members of a coronavirus advisory board that will assist him in his transition to the White House.

The Latest Numbers

At least 1,448 new coronavirus deaths and 139,855 new cases were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database. Over the past week, there has been an average of 123,315 cases per day, an increase of 69 percent from the average two weeks earlier.

As of Wednesday, 39 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 10.3 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday evening, and more than 240,900 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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