With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, BioSpace felt it was important to give thanks for some of the positive things that have happened during 2021. And there are many! The accomplishments, opportunities and possibilities the scientific community has brought to bear, providing a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic and hope for the future of meaningful therapies for several challenging diseases, deserve a major shout-out.
Severe Covid-19 infections are beginning to abate in many parts of the United States even as the death toll mounts, signaling an end to the pandemic’s post-holiday surge and prompting some states to ease public health restrictions.
Los Angeles health officials told first responders to stop bringing adult patients who cannot be resuscitated to hospitals, citing a shortage of beds and staff as the latest Covid-19 surge threatened to overwhelm healthcare systems in America’s second-largest city.
The United States recorded more than 15,000 deaths from Covid-19 and over 1.2 million new cases for the week ended Dec. 27, though those numbers may be artificially low due to reporting gaps over the Christmas holiday.
The number of coronavirus deaths in the United States crossed 300,000 on Dec. 14, according to a Reuters tally, as the hardest hit nation rolled out its first vaccine inoculations on the same day.
The United States set single-day records for new infections and deaths as California’s governor said he would impose some of the nation’s strictest stay-at-home orders in the coming days when intensive care units are expected to reach capacity.
The United States recorded 10,000 coronavirus deaths and more than 1.1 million new cases for the week ended Nov. 29, although state and health officials said the Thanksgiving holiday likely caused numbers to be under-reported.
After a Thanksgiving weekend when the number of people traveling through U.S. airports reached the highest total since mid-March, a top government official said some Americans could begin receiving coronavirus vaccinations before Christmas.
U.S. health authorities will hold an emergency meeting to recommend that a coronavirus vaccine awaiting approval be given first to healthcare professionals and people in long-term care facilities.
Americans defied pleas from state and local officials to stay home for the Thanksgiving holiday in the face of the surging coronavirus pandemic, triggering fresh warnings from health officials with the release of vaccines still weeks away.