A recent report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) has found that COVID-19 the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, passed heart disease as the top killer in the United States in the past week.
The US officials reported more than 11,800 COVID-19 deaths during the past week, passing heart disease at 10,700 deaths, lung and tracheal cancer at 4,000 deaths, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at around 3,700 deaths, and stroke at nearly 3,600 deaths.
The reports also found that the daily death rate is greater than 4 per million in 34 states.
So far, over 290,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US, and the total could reach more than 500,000 by April 2021, according to the IHME model forecasts.
The report said, “By April 1, 2021, we project that 9,000 lives will be saved by the projected vaccine rollout. If rapid rollout of vaccine is achieved, a further 11,000 lives will be saved.”
But until then, almost all states will see a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, while 46 states will face “high or extreme stress” with the capacity of hospital beds and ICUs from December to February, according to the IHME.
Wisconsin-based respiratory therapist Donovan Boetcher told CBS News, “It’s one giant ball of anxiety trying to figure out where the next patient’s going to go.”
“I feel like on social media, there’s a lot of talk of health care heroes and all that,” he added. “Well, if you really want to respect people in health care or anyone that has to work right now, stay home. Wear a mask.”
The US reported over 1 million new COVID-19 cases in the first five days of December, crossing over 15 million cases so far, according to CNN.
On Friday, health authorities reported nearly 228,000 cases, marking the highest one-day total during the ongoing crisis.
Dr. Shirlee Xie of Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis, told CNN, “Every single day, thousands more people are getting this virus, and we know that means that in a few days, in a week, hundreds of people are going to be coming to the hospital and hundreds of people are going to die.”
“I think that sometimes when you hear statistics like that, you become numb to what those numbers mean,” she added. “But for us, the people that are taking care of these patients, every single number is somebody that we have to look at and say, ‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing more I can do for you.’” The article originally appeared on WebMD and Medscape.
