Expert Warns US Is Approaching 'One Of The Most Unstable Times In The History Of Our Country'
(CNN) -- With rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations sending many states backward in their reopening plans, one health expert warns that if the US continues on its current path it will reach "one of the most unstable times in the history of our country."
"We will have hospitals overwhelmed and not only in terms of ICU beds and hospitals -- and that's bad -- but exhausted hospital staff and hospital staff that's getting ill themselves," Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN Friday night. "So, we won't have enough manpower, human power, to manage all of this."
Only five states saw a decrease of at least 10% in average new daily cases over the past week. And the US set a record for the highest single day of new cases for the second time this week with 66,627 cases on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
There have been more than 3,225,721 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, Johns Hopkins University said. That's more than the population of 21 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, according to data from the US Census Bureau.
At least 134,580 people have died from complications of the virus.
The resurgence has many local leaders returning to actions taken in March and April to slow the spread of the virus.
At least 26 states have paused or rolled back their plans to reopen.
Several states set their own records.
California, which has held rank as one of the hardest-hit states, continued to set records in coronavirus hospitalization and ICU rates this week, with over 6,000 patients being treated.
Texas reported 10,351 new cases Saturday, topping the previous record of 10,028 set July 7, according to the Department of State Health Services. There are 10,083 patients hospitalized statewide due to the virus, with only 930 ICU beds available Saturday.
South Carolina on Saturday reported 2,239 cases from a day earlier, breaking the previous daily high by 300 cases.
The Louisiana Department of Health reported 2,642 new cases Friday, making it the highest day of new cases since the pandemic began. On Saturday, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a statewide mask order.
Wisconsin reported 926 new cases Saturday, breaking the record set the day before, the state Department of Health Services said in a tweet.
Hospitals stretched thin
Hospital capacity -- a concern in many places when the pandemic first broke out -- is being raised as a pressing issue once again.
An ICU nurse at Banner Health in Arizona said the staff and the three coronavirus ICUs at the hospital where she works are already stretched thin.
"Now, we're kind of at the point where we are stretched so thin, we are at the point of compromising patient safety," Lauren Leander told CNN on Thursday.
It's a familiar story. In Riverside County, California, 10 out of 17 hospitals are at or above 100% capacity of licensed ICU beds, county spokesperson Brooke Federico said.
The-CNN-Wire
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