The COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the year and it appears it has no intentions of slowing down. Several health organizations have reported the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has crossed the 50 million mark. The United States of America has been hit hardest by the pandemic. Thus far, America has reported more than 10 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 240,000 deaths.
Within the last two weeks, the United States has endured more COVID-19 cases than ever before. Last week, America experienced its highest single-day total with more than 120,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Midwestern states like Illinois and Wisconsin have been impacted the most by the pandemic. On November 4, Wisconsin reported nearly 6,000 confirmed cases. Three days later, Illinois reported nearly twice as many cases in a single day.
"While the state and country turned its eyes to the presidential election, Wisconsin had another record-setting day for Covid-19 cases, with 5,935 Wisconsinites testing positive on Wednesday," Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said.
As the pandemic rages on, public health experts fear that things may only get worse. With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve nearing, Dr. Vin Gupta of the University of Wisconsin fears that the number of deaths per day will inch into the thousands.
"There isn't much we can do to prevent what we think is going to be about 2,200 deaths a day by Jan. 1," Dr. Gupta said.
Luckily, advancements in medicine are offering a bright spot during a tough time. Vaccine developers Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech report that the vaccine they are testing has been affective in preventing 90% of infections.
“It shows that Covid-19 can be controlled,” BioNTech Chief Executive Officer Ugur Sahin said.
“At the end of the day, it’s really a victory of science.”
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