Coronavirus: US braces for post-Thanksgiving 'surge'
Washington DC: The US government's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci predicted a sharp rise in Coronavirus cases in the coming weeks after millions of Americans failed to heed warnings and traveled across the country for Thanksgiving festivities, he told CNN on Sunday.
"There almost certainly is going to be an uptick because of what has happened with the travel," Fauci said.
He gave a dire warning that "we may see surge upon surge" of infections from the fallout of mass travel and socializing. He expected family gatherings at Christmas to further exacerbate the problem.
Also appearing on NBC, he pleaded with Americans to curb the spread of the virus by wearing masks, staying distant from others and avoiding large groups.
White House Coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx pointed out how a holiday weekend in May had led to a leap in COVID-19 infections. She also warned that the situation was already much worse in the country this time.
"Now we're entering this post-Thanksgiving surge with three, four and 10 times as much disease across the country," she told CBS. "We are deeply worried." The warnings from the experts coincided with the sudden reversal of a move by New York City's mayor, Bill DeBlasio, who decided to restart in-person teaching in the country's largest school system just 11 days after shutting schools due to rising Coronavirus cases in the city.
California saw the number of people being hospitalized with Coronavirus hit a record of 7,415 on Sunday. More than 1,700 of those patients were in intensive care units.
The US has reported more than 13 million cases of COVID-19, with over 266,000 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the world.
Thousands marched in the Spanish capital Madrid in order to demand better working conditions for health care workers. The organizers of the "Marea Blanca" (White flood) movement accused the authorities of failing to properly fund the public health service. Italy's Higher Health Council chief Franco Locatelli said on Sunday that he hopes ski resorts will remain closed until the end of the year, or, failing that, that travelers will be required to self-isolate for a period of time in order "to protect the general public."
Germany and Italy have pushed for ski resorts to remain closed until after the new year while Switzerland and Austria are planning to not close theirs at all.
The number of confirmed cases in Germany rose by 11,169, bringing the total number of infections to 1,053,869 since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. The reported death toll rose by 125 to 16,248.
The new figures came as Economy Minister Peter Altmaier called on Germans to do more to reduce contacts and slow the spread of the virus, in an interview with public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
He added that pandemic relief aid for companies cannot be extended indefinitely, and taxes will not be raised during this parliamentary term, which will likely last until late
next year.
