US records highest number of Covid cases in single day as Trump insists pandemic is ‘turning a corner’

More than 83,000 new coronavirus cases were reported on Friday

The United States has hit its highest daily number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic first began, recording more than 83,000 new cases on Friday.

The grim milestone beat the previous record posted in July of 77,000 new cases in a single day, and it comes just a few days after President Donald Trump told the American public that the country was rounding the corner on managing the novel virus.

Previously, a surge in cases happened in specific areas across the country, such as the coastal states at the start of the pandemic and the Sun Belt during the summertime. But this current surge is considerably more widespread across the country.

Health officials have said the steep incline in cases could be linked to the reopening of schools and increased family gatherings happening across states. With the winter months approaching, people are also spending more time indoors.

The surge was not just indicating an increase in cases but also a rise in hospitalisations.

Coronavirus hospitalisations increased in 38 states last week, and experts have warned an increased death toll could follow in three to four weeks following this surge.

When the country last hit its daily record for coronavirus cases – 77,233 on 17 July, according to COVID Tracking Project – there were 18 states in the White House coronavirus task force’s “red zone”, meaning they reported more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people.

Now at least 33 states would be designated in the “red zone” for reporting more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people, based on data compiled by the New York Times.

One of the largest concerns among health experts was the increase in hospitalisations, which could potentially cause occupancy concerns if hospitals get to be too full.

In Wisconsin, 90 per cent of hospital ICU beds are full, Governor Tony Evers said. The state opened a makeshift field hospital and accepted its first patient on Wednesday to manage the surge.

Concerns of a lack of beds have also risen in states like Missouri, Idaho and Utah.

In the month of October, 37 states have reported an increase to their hospitalisation rate – including the rate doubling in states like Connecticut, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming.

The nation’s leading infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Friday that basic health measures like wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings could still help with the current surge.

"They sound very simple, but we're not uniformly doing that and that's one of the reasons why we're seeing these surges," Dr Fauci said. "We can control them without shutting down the country.’

The epidemiologist added that it could be time for a national mask mandate, something Mr Trump has been against, in an effort to curb the spread.

"I think that would be a great idea to have everybody do it uniformly," he said. “If people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.”

The recommendation comes after a new modelling study from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that 100,000 lives could be saved through February if 95 per cent of the public wore masks.

Mr Trump was asked about the surge in coronavirus cases during the second and final presidential debate.

“We’re rounding the turn,” Mr Trump said during the debate. “We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away.”

He later denied Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s claims that there could be a “dark winter” ahead for the American public given the rise in cases.

With the election just 10 days away, the president has decided to tell the public the coronavirus pandemic is under control in the US, which goes against the warnings coming from health experts and the date showing a surge of cases.

This rhetoric from Mr Trump continued in tweets on Saturday morning following the news of the country hitting its highest single-day case tally.

“The Fake News is talking about CASES, CASES, CASES. This includes many low risk people,” Mr Trump wrote. “Media is doing everything possible to create fear prior to November 3rd. The Cases are up because TESTING is way up, by far the most, and best, in the world. Mortality rate is DOWN 85% plus.”

The president was correct that the mortality rate was lower, but that was due to advances made in medicine with determining what therapeutics and medications work best to treat Covid-19.

Two new peer-reviewed studies released in recent weeks are showing a sharp decline in the mortality rate of hospitalised Covid-19 patients. This drop was seen in all groups, including those who are older and have pre-existing conditions.

In one of the studies, which looked at one health system’s data from March into August, it found that mortality has dropped among hospitalised patients by 18 per cent since the start of the pandemic.

Leora Horwitz, a doctor who studies population health at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine and an author on one of the studies, told NPR that there was still cause for concern because the mortality rate was “still higher than many infectious diseases, including the flu.”

The death rate is a lagging indicator in the pandemic. First cases increase, then hospitalisations, and finally the mortality rate follows.

On Wednesday, the US posted more than 1,100 new deaths, the highest death toll on a single day in more than a month. So the current impact of the significant rise in cases won’t be known for at least three weeks.