January surpassed December as the coronavirus’ deadliest month in the U.S., according to numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In January, more than 95,000 died from COVID-19, surpassing December’s total of 77,486 deaths, according to the university.
Globally, more than 103 million coronavirus cases have been reported, resulting in 2.2 million deaths. The U.S. continues leading the world in the number of cases — 26.1 million — and deaths, with more than 441,000.
“Right now it’s the worst of possible worlds,” Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee, told CNN. “It’s the winter. It’s getting cold out, people are together more, there’s still a critical number of people in the United States who don’t wear masks, who don’t social distance.
“I think the next six weeks or two months are going to be rough. I think we could have another 100,000, 150,000 deaths.”
Last month, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that estimated the U.S. coronavirus death toll to rise to more than 500,000 by the middle of February. The CDC’s national forecast predicted 17,000 to 29,300 new deaths will likely be reported in the week ending Feb. 13. The national ensemble predicts between 465,000 to 508,000 COVID-19 deaths will have been reported by then.
The CDC said its ensemble forecasts combine several independent forecasts into a single, overall nationally focused projection over four weeks. This week, the CDC said it received forecasts of COVID-19 deaths over the month from 37 groups that were included in its national forecast.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Friday he hopes to see some kids starting to get vaccinated for COVID-19 in the next few months. It’s a needed step to securing widespread immunity to the virus.
Vaccines are not yet approved for children, but testing already is underway for those as young as 12. If those trials are successful, Fauci said they would be followed by another round of testing down to those 9 years old.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is meeting Monday with a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed spending about one-third of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking in coronavirus aid, though congressional Democrats are poised to move ahead without Republican support.
An invitation to the White House came hours after the lawmakers sent Biden a letter Sunday urging him to negotiate rather than try to ram through his relief package solely on Democratic votes. The House and Senate are on track to vote as soon as this week on a budget resolution, which would lay the groundwork for passing an aid package under rules requiring only a simple majority vote in the closely divided Senate.
The goal is for passage by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires.
