The coronavirus outbreak in the United States topped 4 million confirmed cases on Thursday, with new daily infections across the country accelerating exponentially. The leader of coronavirus infections now averages about 2,700 cases every hour as the U.S. reports about 65,000 daily infections for the past few weeks. Looking back at the nation's outbreak, it took the U.S. 98 days to reach 1 million cases from its first known infection on January 21. It then took another 43 days to reach 2 million, and then 27 days to total 3 million, and now only took 16 days to climb to 4 million cases.
On top of cases, the United States is also the leader in total deaths, and places sixth in deaths per capita. Since June, infection rates alongside hospitalization and death rates have increased across the Southern and Western part of the country, threatening efforts to reopening the world's largest economy.
The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir stated on Thursday that the rate of coronavirus related deaths should begin to fall again within the "next couple of weeks." Giroir stated during a White House press conference that the seven-day rolling average of new infections is beginning to decline throughout the country, with health officials forecasting that hospitalizations and deaths will follow suit.
However, Giroir's estimates contradict data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is predicting that new deaths over the next four weeks will likely surpass the number reported over the prior four weeks. Death rates are also expected to rise in 25 states, according to C.D.C. data.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley
"We update our scenarios to account for higher sustained infection rate," Harrison wrote in a note to clients, quoted by CNBC. "Our bull case reflects similar virus control to Europe, while our base case assumes a near-term plateau followed by increase spread in the fall. [About] 150,000 daily new cases are possible without better control of the virus."
Better control of the virus includes nationwide mask wearing, social distancing and isolating of known cases.
"Our assumption of a growing reproduction number, and consequently increasing daily cases, through the rest of the year is based on the fact that traditionally the spread of viruses is elevated in the fall compared to the summer primarily due to more people in enclosed spaces," Harrison added, quoted by CNBC.
Total Global Cases: Over 15.6 Million
Total Deaths: Over 635,000
Total Recovered: Over 9.53 Million
Several groups of researchers have started analyzing data from Fitbits
Researchers from Stanford University are one of several studies that are determining whether or not wearable fitness trackers can provide early warning of infection. Stanford's study includes historical smartwatch data from 31 users who have tested positive, with data from every user showing infection before symptoms appeared.
"When you get ill, even before you know it , you body starts changing, your heart rate goes up," Stanford University School of Medicine Professor Michael Synder stated, quoted by Reuters.
While several studies are still ongoing, wearable devices may provided an early detection warning that will allow the user to self-isolate before symptoms appear. This would be a breakthrough in the containment of asymptomatic/pre-symptomatic spread.
Fitbit is also conducting its own study involving 100,000 participants.
