The latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States show that as of 7:24 on October 24th, Beijing time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the United States reached 8,479,652, with 223,845 deaths. The United States is the most severely affected country in the world. .
Since the beginning of the fall, the epidemic situation across the United States has rebounded strongly, and many epidemic data have set new records.
The epidemic in the central and western regions and remote areas is severe, and medical institutions are overwhelmed. US health officials use “depressing” to describe the current situation of the epidemic.
A record number of new cases in a single day, the third wave of epidemic peaks surging
According to CNN, Bloomberg and other media reports, there have been two peaks of the epidemic in the United States in spring and summer. With the advent of autumn and winter, the third peak of the epidemic in the United States is likely to come.
The latest report of the “New York Times” shows that on October 23, there were 85,085 newly confirmed cases in the United States in a single day, exceeding the highest record of 75,687 new cases in a single day on July 16.
At the same time, the number of hospitalized patients with Coronavirus in various parts of the United States is also on the rise.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that in the next four weeks, the number of patients hospitalized with Coronavirus may increase by 6,200 per day.
Jay Butler , deputy director of the Infectious Disease Control Department of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said this week that the situation in the United States is “depressing”, with nearly 75% of the regions experiencing a surge in cases.
Butler: “Unfortunately, we are seeing a depressing trend in the United States. Nearly 75% of the regions are increasing the number of cases.”
The number of confirmed diagnoses and hospitalization rates in remote areas set a record
The peak of the epidemic has “returned” and can be called an “undifferentiated outbreak” across the United States.
According to U.S. media reports, unlike the second peak of the epidemic in the summer, the areas with rapid growth in epidemic data are mainly located in the Midwest and the plains of the United States.
The National Public Radio reported that in many remote areas that were relatively less affected by the epidemic, the recent number of confirmed cases and hospitalization rates are also setting “new records”-relatively remote Kansas, Montana, South Dakota The per capita infection rate in other places once reached the highest level in the United States.
According to the analysis of the National Public Radio (NPR), since the fall, the number of newly diagnosed cases in the Midwest has accounted for one-third of the country. In the past week, Illinois and Wisconsin have each added nearly 20,000 new confirmed cases, which are on par with a populous state like California.
According to data obtained by the Midwest Investigation Center, a non-profit news center in the United States, prisons, workplaces, schools, and meat processing plants across Illinois have also concealed some confirmed cases.
△The Midwest Investigation Reporting Center cited confidential data as saying that prisons, workplaces, schools, and meat processing plants across Illinois concealed epidemic data.
Records of hospitalization in 10 states
Relevant data disclosed by the US “Atlantic Monthly” shows that in the past two weeks, the number of hospitalized cases of Coronavirus patients in 42 states has increased by more than 5%; this week, the number of hospitalized cases in 10 states including Arkansas, Kentucky and Iowa The number of hospitalized cases set new records.
The epidemic situation in rural and remote areas of the United States has deteriorated again. Some medical institutions in small towns and rural areas have limited medical resources, and now they are “overwhelmed.”
According to a CBS report, in a rural hospital in Wisconsin, medical staff are also facing a shortage of protective materials.
CBS reporter: “In the warehouse of this hospital, there are no N95 masks in the protective equipment. Because the supply of masks has been insufficient, in order to save supplies, each staff member here can only allocate one N95 mask a week.”
Hospitals everywhere are also facing a financial crisis while admitting a surge in the number of Coronavirus patients.
According to statistics from the American Hospital Association, the economic loss of hospitals across the United States exceeded US$200 billion in the first half of this year, and it is expected that they will continue to lose more than US$120 billion in the second half of the year.
Many hospitals facing financial crisis are dedicated to serving minorities and low-income groups. The vast majority of private hospitals are still profiting normally because they refuse to treat patients without medical insurance and benefit from a large amount of government subsidies.
Guo Xiangang , a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said that the current predicament of the U.S. medical system is caused by many disadvantages.
Guo Xiangang: “After the outbreak in the United States, rural hospitals in the United States are now very tight, because the main patients in rural hospitals are low-income groups and people of color.
The US government did not invest much in rural hospitals in the past, and did not pay attention to low-income and people of color. In addition, some private hospitals in the United States received a lot of government subsidies during the epidemic, but these rural hospitals did not care.
This also shows that the U.S. government treats people of color and the living conditions of low-income groups. , Physical health and safety are indifferent.”
According to CNN, since the fall, US health officials have continued to call on the government to take more measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Guo Xiangang, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said bluntly that the US government is primarily responsible for the current rebound in the US epidemic.
“If the U.S. government continues to adopt this attitude of disregarding low-income groups and indifferent to the health and safety of the people, the epidemic in the U.S. may continue to worsen.”
