COVID-19 Hospitalizations on the rise across the US, officials worried | US & Canada

More than 90,000 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized across the United States, which continues to see rising infections.

The number of COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals across the United States rose to 90,000 on Friday, Reuters news agency reported, as people traveled to attend Thanksgiving holiday meetings this week.

The news agency said the rate of hospital admissions was now the highest since the epidemic began, pushing some medical facilities beyond their capacity and taking alarms from public health professionals and state officials.

The countryside in New Mexico is one of the hardest-hit areas in the country, having been locked down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus novel. On Friday, 880 people were hospitalized across the U.S. state.

A hospital in Curry County, bordering the county’s Texas Panhandle, reached capacity in its intensive care unit earlier this week, the county’s Facebook page said.

“This is the reality we face when COVID-19 is allowed to spread without being tested,” New Mexico Governor Michel Lujan Grisham tweeted Friday, referring to the situation in Curry County, urging people to stay home to prevent the virus from spreading.

“There are not enough ICUs and enough health care workers available,” she wrote.

This is the reality we face when COVID-19 is allowed to spread without being tested – there are not enough ICUs and enough health care workers available.

Protect yourself and your fellow New Mexicans by protecting our hospitals and health care staff – stay at home.https://t.co/pbt5NJcskU

– Michelle Luzon Grisham (ovGovMLG) November 27, 2020

Public health officials have warned that COVID-19 infection rates have been rising for weeks across the U.S. and that people who met with friends and relatives during Thanksgiving are gradually developing symptoms.

Johns Hopkins University has reported more than 13.04 million COVID-19 cases so far in the country, as well as more than 264,000 deaths related to the virus.

Many health professionals and politicians have appealed to Americans not to attend Thanksgiving this year because socialization between households will accelerate the rate of community transmission and push the already damaged health care system to the brink.

Some adhere to public health guidelines, but one day before the holiday, one of the busiest travel days in the U.S. in general, with more than 1.07 million people passing through U.S. airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

It has been so much more in a single day since the epidemic began.

Nearly six million Americans traveled by plane from Friday to Wednesday, the TSA said – less than half of what was reported during the same period last year.

Black Friday Shopping

State governors have asked people to stay home on Black Friday, a traditionally busy holiday shopping day.

“Remember, skipping crowds and shopping from home on this Black Friday. Our local stores have curbside pickup options and need our support, ”Kentucky Governor Andy Besheer wrote in a tweet on Friday.

Remember, skipping crowds and shopping from home on this Black Friday day. Our local stores have curbside pickup options and need our support. Shop locally and shop safely. #Health‌yathome. https://t.co/fklE3qOuak

– Governor Andy Beshear (ovGovAndyBeshear) November 27, 2020

In an effort to reduce the COVID-19 wave in the U.S. winter, more than 20 states have issued masking orders and new restrictions restricting the capacity of bars, restaurants and chapels.

In the state of New York, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s restrictions on religious meetings, and voted in favor of a ban on Roman Catholic dioceses and Orthodox Jewish communities.

It is not yet clear whether the bar will be challenged in other states following the Supreme Court ruling.