Story at a glance
- The U.S. recorded more than 170,000 coronavirus-related fatalities over the weekend.
- The fatalities were prevalent among Southern states.
Deaths caused by COVID-19 continued to rise over the weekend throughout the U.S., recording a grim new high at 170,052 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data.
A Reuters tally counts 483 new deaths recorded on Sunday alone, with Florida, Texas and Louisiana leading the rise.
Just as the U.S. leads the world in confirmed coronavirus cases at a staggering 5.4 million, it also leads the world in fatalities associated with the virus. Countries comparable to the U.S. in socioeconomic and political structure showcase significantly lower fatalities, with countries like Canada, France and the U.K. each recording under 50,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.
The high fatality count is preceding the fall influenza season. Public officials fear simultaneous coronavirus and flu outbreaks later this fall could lead to further strain on treatment and prevention efforts.
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Reuters notes that academic sources like The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) anticipate a rise in COVID-19 cases in the forthcoming months, specifically resulting in around 300,000 fatalities by December, as well as about a 75 percent increase in hospitalizations.
Public health officials appear to agree. Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield cautioned that the upcoming fall could be the worst in U.S history if Americans don’t adhere to the coronavirus public health guidelines, such as social distancing and wearing a mask.
“We’re going to have COVID in the fall, we’re going to have flu in the fall,” he said in an interview with WebMD. Redfield added that if people get their routine influenza vaccination, they can help save health care resources for a potential coronavirus patient.
This, in conjunction with public health practices, can mitigate a simultaneous flu and COVID-19 outbreak.
“I’m not asking some of America to do it — we all have to do it,” he said.
To support this effort, the U.S. government reportedly purchased an extra 10 million doses of the flu vaccine, as opposed to the annual 500,000 to ensure demand is met.
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