Question

Write an essay (400-700 words) about the article

"The US hit a record 7-day average of new Covid-19 cases as hospitals are further strained"

By Dakin Andone and Christina Maxouris, CNN

Answer 1

The average number of new daily cases of corona virus in the United States is at record-stressing hospital systems and forcing new curfews and other restrictions in some parts of the country. With fall holidays,such as Halloween and Thanksgiving approaching, the U.S has now established its third peak of daily new cases with no signs of letting up.

On the friday, the US averaged 182633 daily new cases over the last week-a record high for the country,according to John Hopkins University data. And the average numberof daily COVID-19 cases across a week hit2010 on friday,the highest its been since April.

"We are likely to see a very dense epidemic", former Food and Drug Administration Commisioner Dr.Scott Gottelib told CNBC on Monday. " I think we are right now at the cusp of what is going to be exponential spread in parts of the country".

The U.S is also testing mor people than ever,according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project. However, more testing cannot account for the rise in cases, health officials say, because the percents of test coming back has increased as well. About 6.2% of tests are positive on Sunday based on a seven day average,according to Hopkins, up from 5.2% a week earlier.

The U.S reported an all-time high single-day spike in cases on Friday,when the country reported 83,757 new cases, according to Hopkins data. Health officials have warned for months that cases would likely rise as parts of the country entered the fall and winter. That's largely because people are spending more time indoors, where the virus can spread more easily. Epidemiologists also say the virus may be able to spreadmore easily in colder,drier air.

Atleast 17 states reported single dayrecords for new cases on Friday. And four states reported record deaths: Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Utah. In 27 states,there have been more cases announced in the past week than in any other seven -day stretch since the pandemic began.More than 54,800 people were hospitalised with the virus on Friday, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Driven by surges in the United States and Europe, new daily cases have surpassed 605,000 globally for the first time and a harrowing 50 million total cases appear to be close on the horizon. Across the continent, hospitals and health care systems are stretched thin, prompting fresh lockdowns and restrictions.

Portugal declared a new state of emergency on Friday. Romania which passed 10,000 daily cases for the first time, announced that would close schools and implement an overnight curfew.Poland reported a record 445 virus deaths on Friday and admitted the first patient to its new field hospital at a stadium in Warsaw.

As of saturday morning, at least1,242,600 people with Covid -19worldide had died since the start of the pandemic. Bothe new infections and death have rise more than 30% in the past 14 days. The umber of confirmed cases lags behind the true number of infections,though it is guesswork to say by how much. Countries aroun the worldhave worked to increase their testing capacity, but the new surges are straining even that in some places.

Germany, which had been lauded for its testing capacity early on,is tightening the rule governing who getsa test paid for by the public health insurers. Under the new rules those with flu like symptoms are onnly eligible if they alsobelong to high-risk group, or can prove contact to someone eitherinfected or at high risk of becoming infected.

"Test,test test -b ut target", read a government anouncement released on Friday. In the first week of November, the country's labs were able to handle neraly 1.6 million tests a day,but as the new cases rise and with more people becoming sick with seasonal flu, the system is under stress.

Prsident Joe Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday taht he willa sk Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stregthened its recommendations for mask use, calling it "critical" to controlling the spread of corona virus.In addition to wearing masks, we must restrict our activities and reduce capacity at certain types of businesses. A modeling study, by researchers at Stanford and Northwestern universities,shows that a small minority of peoples visitaccount for a large majority of corona virus infections in big cities. And it suggests taht reducing the maximum occupancy in such places - including restaurants,gyms,cafes,hotels and religious establishments- can slow the ilness substantially.