Fri 06 October 2020:
The US broke a new record in daily COVID-19 cases with more than 120,000 new infections, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The country saw 121,054 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, marking the second consecutive day of over 100,000 new infections nationwide.
The US still leads the world with over 9.6 million cases and nearly 235,000 deaths. Globally, more than 48.6 million infections were registered as of Thursday, with fatalities surpassing 1.2 million.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, once approved, will go to healthcare workers.
The CDC said it expects having some vaccine for high-risk individuals, such as healthcare workers, sometime in December or early January.
Germany’s daily virus cases hit new record high
Daily coronavirus cases in Germany hit a new record of 21,506 on Friday, the highest single-day increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
Virus-related fatalities were also on the rise, with 166 further deaths over the last 24 hours, according to data released by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
COVID-19 admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) have continued to grow, putting pressure on the country’s health system.
As of Thursday, 2,653 coronavirus patients were receiving treatment in ICUs, up from 1,030 two weeks ago, according to the DIVI association for emergency medicine.
The availability of ICU beds fell to 24%, meaning that currently, 6,500 beds are free.
German health authorities have repeatedly warned that while the country has plenty of ICU beds, hospitals might soon be short-staffed amid a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus patients.
Germany has the fifth-highest tally of coronavirus infections in Europe, behind France, Spain, the UK, and Italy.
The national total now stands at 619,089 reported COVID-19 cases and at least 11,096 deaths.
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