US Reports 3,100 Coronavirus Deaths In One Day -- 20% Over Previous Recordhttps://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/12/03/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/02/world/covid-19-coronavirusThere were
3,157 Covid-19 deaths reported Wednesday -- an all-time high for the pandemic -- and health care systems are struggling to support the weight of worsening impacts.
The more recent death toll is an increase of about 20% from the previous record of 2,603 set on April 15. Over the course of the pandemic, 273,799 people in the US have died of the virus and more than 13.9 million have been infected, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The surge has pushed records set one day to be broken the next. The spike in coronavirus deaths came on the same day the number of people hospitalized broke 100,000, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
The 911 emergency call system is "at a breaking point," the American Ambulance Association, which represents all of the nation's ambulance services, said in a letter Wednesday.
"Without additional relief, it seems likely to break, even as we enter the third surge of the virus in the Mid-West and West," the letter said.
http://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/health/911-emergency-breaking-point-covid/index.html---------------------------------
“During the pandemic thus far, 99 of the 498 fire departments reporting across Minnesota have had COVID-19 outbreaks,” the head of the two firefighting groups wrote. “This number is rapidly increasing and the ability for many departments to respond to emergencies is on the verge of collapsing.”
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... According to officials at both Methodist LeBonheur and Baptist hospitals, the time it takes to get a patient off an ambulance and get that person processed is taking much longer.
A paramedic told us in some cases patients have been forced to wait some three to 10 hours just to be offloaded.
A spokesperson for Baptist told us the longest wait time is at Baptist East, where it can take up to 45 minutes to offload a patient.
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Calif. County Stops Sending Ambulances to All 911 Calls Due to COVID-19 SurgeSan Bernardino County emergency dispatchers have stopped sending an ambulance to all 911 calls, a strategy that's lightening their load as coronavirus-related calls surge.
Instead, people whose symptoms appear consistent with COVID-19 or the flu but who do not appear to need hospitalization are being visited by paramedics without an ambulance, said Steve Tracy, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Before San Bernardino County's new policy began, some ambulances were waiting four to six hours at a hospital before they could release a patient, Tracy said.
"That ambulance is tied up," he said. "It can't respond to other emergencies."
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World Trade Center 2,753 deaths... over 1 a day------------------------------------------
U.S. Hits 100,000 COVID-19 Hospitalizations; More Than 3,100 Deathshttps://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/02/941902471/u-s-hits-100-000-covid-19-hospitalizationsData from the COVID Tracking Project show 100,226 people were hospitalized on Wednesday with the disease caused by the coronavirus — a figure that has been steadily rising for weeks. Meanwhile, 3,157 new deaths were recorded on Wednesday, surpassing the previous peak of 2,607 deaths on April 15, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert R. Redfield warned Wednesday that things are likely to get worse over the winter months. He predicted deaths could reach "close to 450,000" by February if Americans fail to take more health precautions, such as wearing a mask.