A patient is lying on a bed in a Covid-19 ICU in a hospital in Houston, Texas.
Photographer: Go Nakamura / Bloomberg
Photographer: Go Nakamura / Bloomberg
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that the U.S. will see 400,000 coronavirus deaths by Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump leaves office.
The country caused 100,000 deaths in May, and 200,000 four months later. It has surpassed 300,000 in three months, and 400,000 is likely to take just one month, the CDC decided using a collection of mathematical models. One of the the highest mortality ratios of countries hardest hit by the virus, behind just Italy, Spain and the UK, by population size.
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The expected pace would mean an additional 65,000 deaths in the coming weeks. The numbers are a reminder of how fast the virus is living in the U.S., underscoring the speed of vaccine circulation efforts.
President Joe Biden was expected Tuesday to blames the Trump administration for the slow, slow-release distribution of vaccines 2 million doses delivered, a fraction of the 20 million pledged by the end of the year.
Death Climb
U.S. Covid-19 fatalities were expected to reach 400,000 by mid-January
Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Weekly deaths are expected to rise through Jan. 16, even though national case numbers have been falling for two weeks amid holiday reports. Only Washington state reported an average of seven days in cases that were significantly higher than it was a week ago, according to Covid Tracking Project data.
Nationally, the U.S. posted 162,190 new Covid-19 cases Monday, Covid Tracking Project data show. At least 335,051 deaths were caused by the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University Data.
According to Covid Tracking Project data:
- Connecticut, Kansas and Arizona had the highest new cases per million people.
- Connecticut also reported on a one-day case schedule Monday.