December Smashes Records for Virus Cases as Deaths Near 300,000

For six of December’s first eight days, the trailing-week average of new coronavirus cases has been at a terrifying peak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasts the U.S. will surpass 300,000 deaths by Christmas.

Coronavirus is infecting Americans at an ever-increasing clip in the final weeks of 2020. The U.S. recorded more than 213,000 new cases Tuesday, a number roughly equivalent to the population of Des Moines, Iowa. And that trajectory is beginning to show in fatalities: In just more than a week of December, deaths were more than double the rate of the same week in November, according to Covid Tracking Project data.