The United States surpassed 4 million officially recorded COVID-19 cases on Thursday. Medical workers say a fourth of that count has come over the last 15 days.
Doctors say America’s rising daily rate of confirmed coronavirus cases, coupled with a near-record number of hospitalizations, shows that the U.S. is far from containing the virus.
About 59,600 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S. on Wednesday — roughly 300 short of the country’s peak recorded in mid-April, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the reported count in the U.S. is picking up speed: The national seven-day average of new daily cases was 67,429 on Wednesday, a record.
Many COVID-19 illnesses went undiagnosed, especially early in the pandemic when testing was less available. The CDC has said true case totals are probably more than 10 times greater than official figures in most places.
