The Washington Post - USA (2020-11-22)

A18 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 22 , 2020

thecoronaviruspandemic

BYLAURENTIERNEY

ANDTIMMEKO

More thanaquarter-millionpeoplein the United States have
diedof covid-19 as the numberof confirmedcasescontinuesto
skyrocket.Hospitalsare shortonnurses,andthe Centers for
DiseaseControland Preventionhas recommendedagainsttravel-
ingfor the holidays.
Eachofthese 250,000peopleis alifelosttoasingle virusin
lessthannine months.One waytounderstandthe impactofthis
lossistocompare it withthe number of people wholive in your
town, cityorcounty.Thisamount of deaths would draw aholein
America’sheartland.
Themajorityofcountiesinthe UnitedStates have fewer than
250,000inhabitants. In these places,the numberof people who
have diedofcovid-19 in the United Statesisthe same or many
times greater thanthe county’spopulation.
As deathscontinue to rise across the country, daily confirmed
cases of covid-19 are alsoincreasing.Morethan11million
confirmedcases have beenreported,whichismore thanthe
combined population of multiplestates.
Therecent spikeindaily confirmedcasesis the largestwavesofar
duringthe pandemic in the United States, and it showsno sign of
slowing.Itisestimated thatmore than3millionpeoplein the nation
have active coronavirus infectionsand are potentiallycontagious.
Earlier thismonth,twocompaniesannounced coronavirus
vaccinesthatappear to be morethan90 percent effective in
clinical trials.However,itwill stillbemanymonths beforethe
vaccineis distributed to people whoare not considered at “high
risk” basedontheir job,age and underlyinghealth conditions.
[email protected]
[email protected]

Dan Keatingand HarryStevens contributed to this report.

More than

250,

lives lost

Awideswathofthe countrywithabout 11 millionpeople

Countieswithfewerthan250,000people

Approximately250,000 peoplelive insidethe yellowstroke.

If all of the reported coviddeathsin the U.S. were containedin

this area, its wholepopulationwouldhave died.

Everyshadedcounty

has apopulationof

less than250,000.

Wash.

Ore.

Calif.

Nev.

Idaho

Mont. N.D.

S.D.

Neb.

Wyo.

Utah

Colo.

N.M.

Ariz.

Tex.

Kan.

Okla.

La.

Ark.

Mo.

Iowa

Minn.

Wis. Mich.

Ill. Ind.

Ohio

Pa.

N.Y.

Vt.

N.H.

Maine

Mass.

Conn. R.I.

N.J.

Md.Del.

Va.

N.C.

S.C.

Miss. Ala. Ga.

Tenn.

Ky.

Fla.

W. Va.

Hawaii

Alaska

Denver

Rapid City

Bismarck

Casper

Cheyenne

Salt LakeCity

IdahoFalls

Bozeman

Missoula

Wash. Great Falls

Ore.

Calif.

Nev.

Idaho

Mont.

N.D.

S.D.

Neb.

Wyo.

Utah Colo.

N.M.

Ariz.

Tex.

Kan.

Okla.

La.

Ark.

Mo.

Iowa

Minn.

Wis. Mich.

Ill. Ind.

Ohio

Pa.

N.Y.

Vt.

N.H.

Maine

Mass.

Conn. R.I.

N.J.

Md.Del.

Va.

N.C.

S.C.

Miss. Ala. Ga.

Tenn.

Ky.

Fla.

W. Va.

Hawaii

Alaska

The entirepopulation of these278countiesis roughlyequivalentto the

numberof peoplewho have beeninfectedwith the virusin the United States.

Note:Data as of Nov.17.

March

April

May

June

July

August

When eachcountysaw

themostcases

September

October

November

7-dayavg.

April MayJune July Aug. Sept.Oct.

7-dayavg.

April MayJune July Aug. Sept.Oct.

As of 8p.m.Saturday

Nov.

Nov.

12,089,

255, 1671 ,

183, 183

2k

1k

150k

100k

50k

3k

Newcoronaviruscases anddeaths 200k
in theU.S., byday

Feb. 29

Feb. 29

Yesterday

Total

CASES

Total

Yesterday

DEATHS

BYDEREKHAWKINS

ANDHANNAHKNOWLES

Total coronavirusinfections in
the UnitedStates have topped
12 million, and casesare ap-
proaching 200,000in aday,as
healthexperts warn of an alarm-
ing newstageinthe pandemic’s
spread whileAmericansembark
on holiday travel that could seed
moreoutbreaks.
Afall wave of the virus
usheredin by colderweatheris
onlyworsening,outpacing ex-
pansionsin testingand making
nationwide records routine.
Thecountrypassed11 million
casesjustaweek ago, and daily
infectionsare on track to dou-
ble since Nov. 4, when they
exceeded100,000for the first
time.
As Anthony S. Fauci, thecoun-
try’stop infectious-disease ex-
pert, put it recently on MSNBC:
“It’salmostexponential when
you comparethe curves in the
spring andthe curves in the
summer withthe inflection of
the curvewherewe are right
now.”
TheCentersfor Disease Con-
trol and Prevention on Thursday
recommendedagainsttraveling
and gathering for Thanksgiving,
using itsfirstnewsbriefing in
months to sound alarms overthe
massive caserise reported in the
pastweek. TheUnited Stateshas
surpassed aquarter-million
deaths related to covid-19, the
disease caused by the novelcoro-
navirus.
But more than1million peo-
ple stillpassedthroughthe coun-
try’sairportsonFriday in the
second-highest single-dayrush
of travelers since thestart of the
pandemic, even as air travel has
dropped dramaticallyoverthis
timelastyear.Onthe samedate
in 2019, morethan2.5 million
people traveled through U.S. air-
ports.
ThedataonTransportation
Security Administration screen-
ingsshowsthatmanyAmericans
are heeding callsfor caution. But
the fallout from theweekis
expected to ampuppressureon

hospitalsand health-carework-

ers at acritical timeinthe

pandemic. Hospitalizationshave

soared to all-timehighs,pushing

stateafter statetoenactnew

restrictions suchas mask man-

dates, curfewsand renewed busi-

nessshutdowns.

“The scarynewsisthatthis

weekwill probably have the

highestamount of travel we have

seensince the pandemicbegan,”

saidChristopher Worsham,a

critical-carephysician andre-

search fellowat Harvard Medical

School.

He saidheismore worried

about whatwillhappenwhen

travelers gettotheir destinations

—and as peoplefromdifferent

householdsgatherindoors,

wherethe viruscan spread more

easily,often withmore vulner-

ableolderfamilymembers. Wor-

shamsaidhe has beenhearing

about people being treated as

“the bad guy”for tryingto keep

their relativesand communities

safe.

“Wehavetoremember that

the virusdoesnot care that it is

the holidays, thatyou arefamily,

and thatyou have already gone a

longtime without seeingone

another.Ifgivenopportunities to

spread,the viruswillspread,”he

said.

Somepassengers are facing

crowded terminalsastheywait

to board flights. Videoof busy

seating areasatPhoenix Sky

Harbor International Airport

made therounds on social media

Friday, as travelers said that the

CDC’s guidanceaday earlierhad

either not registeredormade no

differenceintheirdecision-mak-

ing.

“I have alife to live and things

to do, so we takenecessary

precautions,” CurtVurpillat, who

was headingtoChicago, told

news outletAZFamily.

Brandi McRae,anITassetand

capacitymanagerfromSouth

Florida, told TheWashington

Post shewas alarmedtosee long

securitylines andtightly packed

clustersof peopleinthe corri-

dorsof Fort Lauderdale-Holly-

woodInternational Airporton

Saturdaymorning.

“Itwas abit overwhelming,”

saidMcRae,31. “Itwas less

crowded as Iwalkedtomygate,

but all Icouldthink wasthat

there would be verylittle wayfor

so many peopleto remain dis-

tanced.”

McRaesaid that shewasn’t

originally planningto flyduring

the holidayweek, but thatthe

stress of the presidential election

madeher eagertospendtime

withfamily in Lumberton, N.C.

She booked alast-minuteflight

—her firstsince March, she said.

McRae’s familyplanstolimit

their Thanksgivingcelebration

to asmallgroup, shesaid, and

she intendsto wear amask.

“Itseemsextreme,”she said,

“but it seemslikethe bestmeas-

ure against spreading anythingI

could possibly have picked up

during travel.”

Among thesurgeofpeople

flying:collegestudents, manyof

whomwill finish outthefall

semester fromhome.Very few

schoolsare mandating coronavi-

rus testing for students leaving

campuspre-Thanksgiving, said

Chris Marsicano, an education

studiesprofessoratDavidson

Collegewho leadsan initiative

examining how colleges are

grappling withthe pandemic.

Airports are all but certainto

getmorecrowded in the coming

days. TheTSA usually offers

estimates on howmanypassen-

gers it expects to screen during

Thanksgivingweek—lastyear,

the agencyreported record num-

bers—but declined to do so this

year“duetothe manycomplex

factorsthatcouldaffectthose

numbersduring this pandemic,”

an agencyrepresentative told

ThePost.

Fauci, amember of the White

House coronavirus task force,

has been urgingfamilies to

weigh the costs andbenefits of

their planstoget together.

“Whenyou think of the holi-

dayseason,and the congregating

indoorsatwhatare innocent,

lovelyfunctions like meals with

family and friends, you’ve gotto

at leastthink in termsofevaluat-

ing,” he saidonMSNBC.

“Doyou have people in your

family thatare elderly thatmight

have underlying conditions,like

someoneonchemotherapyor

otherthings thatweakentheir

immunesystem?”he said.“Do

you really want to getacrowdof

10, 15, 20 people, manyofwhom

are comingin fromplaceswhere

they’vegone throughcrowded

airports to planes,gettinginto

the house?”

Those settotravel anywayare

taking precautions —and worry-

ing.

Tiana Camacho,a29-year-old

voice actorinBurbank,Calif.,

intends to fly to Boisefor a

medical procedure.She’s donat-

ing urgently neededstem cellsto

aleukemiapatient, she said, and

found thatfacilities in California

werebooked.

Shewillheadout wearing a

maskand afaceshield, she said

—“doublinguponprotection

becauseIreally thinkthatIneed

it becauseofhow insane every-

thing is,”she said. She was

thinkingSaturdayaboutthe vid-

eos she hadseenon Twitter of

airports packed withholiday

crowds.

She wishes people wouldn’t

travel, “putting everyoneatrisk,”

unless theyabsolutely have to. “If

this wasn’t alife-or-deathsitua-

tion, Iwouldn’t be flying out,”

she said.“I’dbestaying home.”

[email protected]

[email protected]

As U.S. cases soar toward 200,000 aday, holiday travelers hit the airports

KENABETANCUR/AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSE/GETTYIMAGES

Travelers make their waythrough NewarkLiberty InternationalAirport. “The scary news is that thisweekwill probablyhavethe highest

amount of travel we have seen since the pandemic began,”said Christopher Worsham, aphysicianand researchfellow in Massachusetts.

DespiteCDC guidance

for Thanksgiving,

manyplan to gather