Physician predicts 'unprecedented surge' in US COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. will spike after Thanksgiving, further stressing health care systems and prompting new restrictions, an emergency physician said Saturday, as states continued to report soaring numbers of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital, told CNN's Erica Hill he is "terrified" about what's going to happen this holiday season.
"We're going to see an unprecedented surge of cases following Thanksgiving this year, and if people don't learn from Thanksgiving, we're going to see it after Christmas as well," Phillips said.
Already, grim indicators offer a glimpse of what's to come. A little more than a week after the U.S. first topped 100,000 daily infections, it reported a record of more than 184,000 new cases Friday.
Hospitalizations also hit a new high — for the fourth consecutive day — with more than 68,500 COVID-19 patients nationwide, according to the And the country's daily death toll has topped 1,300 at least three times this week.
"Things are going to get much, much worse," said Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore Health Commissioner. She expressed concern over the impact on the already-strained health care system when the new cases added in recent days are reflected in hospitalizations.
"We have this firestorm of coronavirus all across the country," Wen said. "It's not one or two hotspots, the entire country is a hotspot of coronavirus infection."
Leaders implement new restrictions
At least 45 states have reported more new infections this past week compared to the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University.
"We have this firestorm of coronavirus all across the country," emergency medicine physician Dr. Leana Wen said. "It's not one or two hotspots, the entire country is a hotspot of coronavirus infection."
More than 10.9 million people in the U.S. have been infected with coronavirus, and more than 245,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins. At least 1,266 new deaths were reported on Saturday alone.
And while some officials toughen their restrictions, some say changing behavior is more important than shutting down.
'Don't do stupid things'
If everyone took precautions and stopped assuming their friends aren't infected, the results could be more effective than a lockdown, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
"The good thing about where we are now is we're smarter than we were in March. We understand that this blanket kind of lockdown, which did the trick then, may not be the best way now," he said.
"It's not about whether a store is open or not. It's about your and my behavior. It's about whether we think, 'Oh, I know that person, so I'm familiar with them. I can hang out with them ... Those things are what's causing the spread."
So if people don't like shutdowns, the solutions are simple: "Cancel those vacation plans right now. Do not sneak in other households for Thanksgiving," Garcetti said.
"To me, the mantra is two things: Don't share your air, and don't do stupid things."