US nears 62,000 daily COVID hospitalizations, an all time high, as it breaks another record of 131,000 new daily cases, the COVID Tracking Project reports

• The US has broken its April 15 record for COVID hospitalizations, according to The Covid Tracking Project, as winter nears.
• The US has recorded 1 million new cases within the first ten days of November 2020. Today, at least 131,000 cases were recorded nationally, according to The Covid Tracking Project.
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The US continues to steamroll past COVID-19 milestones, passing 61,964 hospitalizations, and registering 131,000 cases, the highest single-day total since the pandemic started, according to The COVID Tracking Project. The US also recorded 1 million new cases in the first ten days of November. 

According to the COVID Tracking Project, hospitalization rates have increased since the last record reached on April 15, when 59,940 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the nation. After that rate slowed down in the summer months, hospitalization rates almost reached 60,000 in July but fell. As the fall and winter seasons have set in, the COVID Tracking Project said “we’re likely entering the worst period in the pandemic.”

Death rates and new case numbers continue to follow these grim patterns. Currently, the US is averaging more than 110,100 new cases a day, which is also a record, in a month where new COVID-19 cases have reached 1 million in just ten days.

With the surge in cases, many states are struggling with strained medical resources and personnel, and several governors making increasingly urgent pleas for Americans to take the virus seriously. 

In North Dakota, as cases and deaths rise and hospitals have reached capacity, Gov. Doug Burgum announced that hospital staff who are infected with COVID-19 will be authorized to work, due to extreme medical staff shortages. 

According to the CDC and the Covid Tracking Project, many states, including Wisconsin and Illinois, are experiencing record cases. In the first week of November, both neighbors are second and third in terms of newly-registered cases.

States like Utah are dealing with stress on medical systems, but are also navigating a more difficult landscape in recruiting out-of-state ICU nurses and medical professionals, as more are needed in-state and because of costs, according to Utah state health officials. Utah also recently issued a state of emergency to tackle the spread. 

The recent announcement of Pfizer's vaccine attaining a 90% efficacy rate in clinical trials marked a major medical milestone this week, and today, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that a successful vaccine could be available to Americans as early as April 2021.