We should have seen this coming.
The United States has passed another stunning benchmark in the Covid-19 pandemic: more than 100,000 new cases in a single day. This new record — an increase of 7 percent compared to seven days ago — comes after last Friday’s record-breaking case count of 98,000. And the worst is almost certainly still to come. This is not the peak. We’re in the midst of a climb. Next week, another record may be broken. What’s more, the continued deterioration of the public health situation is happening all over the country. There’s no single hot spot or epicenter. With the exception of a handful of states, the virus is spreading uncontrolled north to south, west to east. The concern isn’t just about the record number of new infections — the number of people in hospitals across the country is ascending, too, hitting 52,049 on November 4, according to the Covid Tracking Project. That’s the highest number since early August. And the trend has been accompanied by an increase in daily Covid-19 deaths, which has crept above 1,000 several days over the past two weeks. It should be noted that the mortality rate of Covid-19 has declined since the start of the pandemic. Doctors have learned more about how to treat the illness, more testing has helped identify hidden infections, and a better understanding of Covid-19 symptoms has allowed patients to seek help earlier in the course of the illness. But an uncontrolled spread of the infection means that cases will still rise and hospitals could get overwhelmed, undoing the gains in saving lives and raising the death rate again. These facts are a rebuke to President Trump, who has claimed throughout the pandemic that concerns about Covid-19 were overblown, that it was simply being weaponized as an election issue, and that the disease would fade away on its own. In fact, scientists, including Trump’s own advisers, have raised the alarm that the worst days of the pandemic lie ahead — with record spread in the cold winter months, when people are more likely to gather indoors.
