The U.S. has now recorded more than 3 million new cases of COVID-19 in the month of November alone, according to a database kept by Johns Hopkins University.
According to Johns Hopkins, the U.S. has recorded at least 3.1 million cases of COVID-19 since Nov. 1 — more than 25% of all the cases the country has seen since the pandemic began.
The spike in cases has led to a concerning jump in virus-related hospitalizations across the country. According to the COVID Tracking Project, more than 83,000 people across the country are currently battling the coronavirus in a hospital — the most the country has seen since the pandemic began.
The COVID Tracking Project reports that while the entire country is seeing a spike in hospitalizations, the Midwest and South have been hit particularly hard — 69% of all COVID-19 hospitalizations across the country have occurred in those two regions.
The spike has led to a concerning increase in hospital resources. In some rural hospitals in the Upper Midwest, there aren't beds to spare.
The COVID Tracking Project also reports that there has been a significant uptick in deaths since the start of November. Since Oct. 31, the 7-day average of daily deaths has increase from 810 to 1,470. The current rate of deaths per day hasn't been seen in the U.S. since mid-May.
The concerning spike occurs as much of the country sees the weather turn colder ahead of winter months, and comes as Americans prepare to celebrate the holiday season — something health officials warn could further facilitate the spread of the virus.
The CDC has recommended that Americans not travel to celebrate Thanksgiving with loved ones and recommends against hosting large gatherings this year.
It also comes as several drug companies, including AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer have all reported encouraging results from their COVID-19 vaccine trials. While the companies are all pre-producing millions of doses of the drugs prior to authorizaiton, health experts say they likely won't be widely available until spring 2021.
