The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) daily report, “COVID-19 situation update worldwide, as of 19 November 2020,” shows the number of new cases in the United States surpassing two million for the fourteen days November 6 -19. The 2,043,321 new cases more than doubled the 1,019,609 new cases reported by the United States for October 19-November 1 (the first time the United States surpassed one million in a fourteen day period according to the daily reports from the ECDC). For the last fourteen days, the U.S. accounted for 24.99% of new cases recorded around the world. The 11,529,807 cases recorded by the U.S. since the end of December 2019 have been 20.45% of the world’s total cases of 56.37 million. The U.S. has just 4.3% of the world’s population.

The United States is the largest source of increases in new cases and has been that over the last month. Europe which has suffered a huge increase this fall is seeing a reduction from peak numbers for many countries.

The United States is seeing new records in terms of hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19. The COVID Tracking Project shows the U.S. having 79,410 hospitalizations on November 18, up from 28,606 on September 20 and nearly 20,000 hospitalizations more than prior peaks in July (59,677 on July 24) and April (59,773 on April 21). Some sources are projecting hospitalizations could exceed 100,000 in the coming weeks.

Deaths in the U.S. are also increasing with the COVID Project recording 1,869 on November 18. The ECDC 19 November 2020 COVID-19 situation update worldwide shows U.S. deaths due to COVID-19 as 250,537 or 18.55% of the world total up til November 19. With the spiraling number of new cases and huge increases in hospitalizations, the daily death totals are projected to continue to increase.

Many U.S. states are overwhelmed with COVID-19 hospitalizations, and there continue to be challenges for medical workers obtaining needed personal protective equipment despite increased global production and some domestic onshoring. See, e.g., NPR, November 10, 2020, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Hit Record Highs. Where Are Hospitals Reaching Capacity?, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/10/933253317/covid-19-hospitalizations-are-surging-where-are-hospitals-reaching-capacity; American Medical Association, Amid PPE shortage, AMA collaboration offers supplier for doctors, November 16, 2020,https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/amid-ppe-shortage-ama-collaboration-offers-supplier-doctors.

While the news from several pharmaceutical companies about results from phase 3 vaccine tests are highly encouraging, production and distribution of the vaccines, once approved, means the U.S. will be dealing with the continuing surge of new cases for a number of months to come at least. Some forecasts predict deaths in the U.S. reaching 430,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Moreover, with a change in government occurring in late January, the U.S. is suffering from a lack of coordination from the outgoing Administration with the Biden Administration as the Trump Administration has to date refused to provide access to information that is normally received by incoming Administrations. Such handicapping of an incoming Administration will have significant adverse effects on the nation’s ability to distribute vaccines once approved and otherwise permit the Biden Administration to get on top of the pandemic.

Complicating the economic and trade picture in the United States is the lack of an additional stimulus package during the growing crisis from the pandemic. Millions of Americans face serious challenges with the expiration of various relief programs, some at the end of December. Millions are at risk of eviction beginning in January. See CNN, November 18, 2020, Key pandemic relief programs are set to expire at the end of the year. No one knows what’s next, https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/18/politics/covid-relief-programs-expiring-in-december/index.html.

While before the election, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were discussing a possible package of around $2 trillion, the Senate was not on board with a large package, and there was no agreement on the package even between the Administration and the House. It is looking increasingly unlikely that an agreement will be reached before Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President on January 20, 2021, meaning months of delay before new legislation can be enacted. Such delay will cause significant harm to millions and millions of Americans and to the overall U.S. economy.

A large reason for the significant rebound in the third quarter from the steep drop in GDP in the second quarter in the U.S. was the broad and deep stimulus package adopted much earlier in the year. Without a new stimulus package and with surging new cases, there is the very real risk of slipping into a double dip recession. See, e.g., The Hill, November 15, 2020, Fears of double-di recession rise alongside COVID-19 cases,https://thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/525951-fears-of-double-dip-recession-rise-alongside-covid-19-cases. Indeed, with more and more states imposing at least some restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the economic rebound is certainly already slowing. The New York Fed Staff Nowcast projection of 4th quarter 2020 GDP growth has shrunk from an estimate of 7.12% on August 28 to just 2.86% projected on November 13.

The United States is not alone in facing challenges getting new stimulus measures put in place or facing a double dip recession or seeing large surges in cases during the fall. See, e.g., NPR, November 17, 2020, Hungary and Poland Block EU Budget with Pandemic Relief Funds for Hard-Hit Nations, https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/11/17/935775895/hungary-and-poland-block-eu-budget-with-pandemic-relief-funds-for-hard-hit-natio; CNN Business, November 5, 2020, The UK economy heads back into recession, https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/05/economy/uk-economy-recession/index.html. Europe has already reduced its forecasted GDP growth for 2021 because of the fall resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

Conclusion

The United States continues to struggle with a pandemic that has affected all parts of the world. The U.S.’s response has been the least successful and the most costly of any nation in the world. As we head towards the end of the year, the virus continues to spiral out of control across the country with many states and local communities basically at the breaking point in terms of health care services. The President and many of his supporters have politicized basic public health steps needed to control the virus. While the Trump Administration has helped support expediting research, development and production of vaccines, the U.S. is now and will almost certainly remain the country with the worst record in terms of infections and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s record of more than two million new infections recorded in the last fourteen days is just one more “first” that the United States should never have achieved.