This exceeds the total number of deaths 361,000, according to university data, at a time when the country's health authorities record an average of 200,000 new infections per day.
In California, badly affected by the pandemic, health authorities have ordered hospitals in more than a dozen counties in the south and central state filled with "Covid-19" patients to suspend elective surgeries for at least three weeks.
The order, issued by the state's Ministry of Public Health late yesterday, applies to 14 counties including Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego, where critical care capacity in hospitals is under severe strain.
A massive vaccination campaign would be needed to achieve a level of herd immunity that could put an end to the epidemic in most parts of the United States and many other countries as more rapidly mutating strains of the virus emerge.
Source: The Hill + "Reuters
