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Winter weather hits as the COVID-19 numbers surge across the country. The coronavirus numbers stand at nine million, according to Johns Hopkins University. This means the virus is now spreading faster than it was the first time. Friday, October 30 saw a record number of cases of 98,500 infections and 978 deaths. New cases are being diagnosed every second. Another huge number is 540,035, the number of cases recorded from October 23 to October 29. This is the most for any week since July 2020.
This surge in coronavirus cases spans across the nation. All but three of our 50 states reported more cases last week than the month before. 41 states reported more patients testing positive than the previous week. The pandemic doesn’t stop in the nation, but continues across the globe. Japan hit 100,000 infections. One-third of these infections were recorded in Tokyo. India did report declining numbers, but this was a day after it hit the eight million mark. Cases in Europe are spiking as well. New restrictions are being enforced. France is bringing back a nationwide lockdown. Germany is closing bars and restaurants.
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The United States Congressional COVID-19 panel released a report that questioned President Donald Trump and his administration’s approach to the pandemic. The panel slammed the current administration’s response and said it was a failure of leadership. In the 71-page report, it stated the pandemic has infected over nine million people and killed nearly 230,000 Americans. They stated the pandemic was made worse by politics, neglect and favoritism. Panel chair Jim Clyburn said that there is no excuse for this pandemic to what it is today since we have known about it for almost a year.
This committee has held numerous hearings after inspecting countless documents. They have also interviewed administration officials and experts in public health. Over nine million Americans have not received stimulus checks promised by the government. These checks were meant to help Americans get through their personal financial crisis, yet millions still wait for their check.
The panel found that the Treasury Department was the reason many small companies didn’t get their first round of assistant payments. This is because they stated the Paycheck Protection Program was aimed at existing customers that put others out in the dark. The committee claims Trump downplays the virus leading to more cases and deaths. They also reported some of Trump’s top officials got in the way of the government’s response to the pandemic. The committee stated that administrative officials pressured health experts into pushing their viewpoints and putting officials to the side for giving medical information to the public about the pandemic. This impacted accurate testing that could have interfered with the safety of opening schools and voting safely.
President Trump continues to state that the United States is coming out on top. He’s put down mask mandates and other restrictions. The death rate is surging to about 800 people a day in America. This level is the highest it has been in over a month. The administration continues to violate recommendations about wearing masks, going into proper quarantine, and social distancing.
The numbers cannot lie. Hospitals across the nation are starting to get overwhelmed at the number of critically ill people from the coronavirus. Most hospitals say it is not the lack of hospital beds that concern them, but it’s the exhausting staff members. They must care for these patients around the clock while living in fear for their own life. Some hospitals fear care might need to be rationed soon. Hospitals also need to replace shifts when their own employees get sick or need to quarantine.
Hospitals throughout the nation are leaning on travel nurses, clinicians, and therapists that work on a temporary basis. These jobs pay “crisis rates” that are about 30% above normal rates. Some full-time nurses are leaving their positions to join these travel jobs that pay more, but put them in the eye of the storm.
The new numbers put more pressure on everyone to curb this virus. This is a new stage in the pandemic. People are tired of their entire lives being thrown upside down. Time will only tell what the numbers will do, but this pandemic doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon.
