US Daily COVID Deaths Top 3K for First Time Wednesday

The United States on Wednesday crossed an ominous new threshold of 3,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in a single day while public health officials stepped up preparations for a vaccine campaign of historic scope ahead of imminent regulatory approval.

Steady movement toward a vaccine rollout on the eve of a critical review by leading U.S. medical experts comes as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations surged alarmingly higher, straining healthcare systems in some pandemic hot spots to the breaking point.

Ten mostly rural counties scattered across California reported having no intensive care unit beds available Wednesday, according to state health data analyzed by Reuters.

In the agricultural heartland of the California's Central Valley, COVID-19 admissions have overwhelmed some individual hospitals altogether. In Fresno County, home to 1 million people, only seven ICU beds remained unfilled Wednesday.

The number of COVID patients hospitalized nationwide grew to a new all-time high of 105,805 by late Wednesday, up 18% over the previous two weeks.

The United States also has documented an average of 2,259 deaths and 205,661 new infections each day over the past week, a toll U.S. health officials warn is likely to accelerate in the coming months before a vaccine becomes widely available to the public.

At least 3,112 U.S. patients perished Wednesday alone, according to a Reuters tally of state-by-state data, surpassing the previous Dec. 3 record of 2,861 deaths and marking the first time the virus has claimed 3,000 American lives or more in a single day.

To date, the highly contagious respiratory illness has killed more than 289,000 Americans, out some 15 million known to have been infected since January.

Medical experts have said the crisis will only worsen in the weeks ahead amid colder weather, especially if Americans continue to disregard warnings to avoid unnecessary travel and large gatherings over the holidays.

Besides the monumental human cost, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy, forcing millions out of work as public health authorities imposed sweeping restrictions on social and economic life in an effort to tamp down the contagion.

Congress, meanwhile, struggled to end a months-long political stalemate over an economic assistance.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a one-week stopgap funding bill to buy more time to reach a deal on a larger relief package, as a bipartisan group released details of their proposal.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters lawmakers were still "looking for a way forward" on COVID-19 aid, then took to the Senate floor to blast Democrat leaders for rebuffing two Republican offers earlier this week.