The United States passed four million cases of the coronavirus for November on Saturday, more than double the record 1.9 million cases set in October.
Now experts have warned Americans to expect that sharp rise in cases to continue, due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday – potentially worsening heading into the December holiday season.
“What we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December, is that we might see a surge superimposed on the surge we are already in,” Dr Anthony Fauci said in an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday.
The government’s leading infectious disease expert added officials “tried to get the word out for people, as difficult as it is, to really not have large gatherings” but ultimately the travel industry suggested many Americans didn’t heed calls to stay home.
Airline and transportation authorities report Americans traveled by the millions over the weekend, and amid Black Friday, retailers experienced large crowds and overnight lines despite government and merchant pleas to primarily shop online.
New York City public schools to reopen for in-person learning
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US surgeon general Jerome Adams acknowledged the surge on Sunday, adding that he expects the rise to continue. Covid-19 has now killed more than 265,000 people in America, with 1,192 new deaths from the virus reported on Saturday.
“I want to be straight with the American people, it’s gonna get worse over the next several weeks,” he told on Fox News Sunday. “The actions that we take in the next several days will determine how bad it is or whether or not we continue to flatten our curve.”
According to Covid-19 tracking data, more than 1.1 million people tested positive for the virus in the past week, an average of 170,000 people a day. On Saturday, public health officials reported a daily record of 91,635 hospitalizations.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said another state shutdown is not out of the question but, for now, he “would just beg folks, particularly in the holiday season, to keep [their] guard up.”
“In terms of a shutdown, I don’t anticipate it, and I sure as heck don’t want to go that route,” Murphy added.
Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson later told the show a state lockdown is the last resort. “We’re not trying to shut down businesses that are doing a good job,” Hutchinson, a Republican, said. “We realize that you can really increase problems across the board if you start shutting down businesses, putting people unemployed going into Christmas season.”
In New York City, officials announced public schools will begin a phased reopening of in-person learning starting on 7 December.
Retailers had reported a far more muted Black Friday this year. “It’s not Black Friday. It’s not people waiting in line the way we’re used to,” Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at The NPD Group said, told NBC.
California tightens controls
Meanwhile, health officials in California’s largest cities – Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco – have now imposed the strictest stay-at-home measures since spring in response to the national case surge.
The state reported 15,614 new Covid-19 cases and 32 new deaths on Sunday, bringing the state count to 1,198,934 cases and the death toll to 19,121 since the pandemic began, according to figures released by the California Department of Public Health.
Los Angeles county will impose a lockdown calling for its 10 million residents to stay home beginning Monday.
Santa Clara county is banning all high school, collegiate and professional sports and imposing a quarantine for those traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away.
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