Nov. 24 (UPI) — The United States has added almost 170,000 COVID-19 cases but the most recent one-day death toll saw a rare decline, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The data shows 169,200 cases were added on Monday, the sixth-highest single-day count since the pandemic began. The new cases pushed the overall U.S. total to 12.42 million.
Monday’s death toll, however, was slightly fewer than 900 — a rare decline coming out of a Sunday, when the lowest figures of the week are typically recorded due to slower reporting at the back end of the weekend.
To date, about 257,800 coronavirus patients in the United States have died, according to Johns Hopkins.
In California, residents in Los Angeles County now face a new stay-home order after cases Monday crossed a threshold officials said would activate the restriction.
Both the county and the state set new single-day case records Monday, according to health officials.
The new order is expected to last for at least three weeks and will allow only essential workers to leave their homes.
County health director Barbara Ferrer said officials plan to discuss the new measures at a weekly meeting on Tuesday.
“This is something that will require deliberation and conversation so that we can actually mark a path forward,” she said.
In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that state troopers and local police will block any large gatherings that are found to violate state restrictions.
Hogan, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski and Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Jerry Jones have opened a “wide-scale compliance, education, and enforcement operation” to crack down on unlawful gatherings.
As part of the operation, police will be deployed in “high visibility compliance units” to busy downtown areas like Baltimore, Silver Spring and Bethesda and will patrol bars, restaurants, nightclubs and banquet halls.
“Following the public health directives is the only way we will be able to stop this virus,” Hogan said.
In New Mexico, healthcare workers say busy hospitals are on the brink of “crisis mode.”
Doctors in three Albuquerque-area health systems told reporters Monday that they will be forced into stricter measures like doubling up patients in intensive care units or converting various spaces to accommodate overflow, if cases keep rising.
“We might resort to having COVID-positive healthcare staff or asymptomatic [staffers] providing care either to COVID patients or in the worst of crises, patients who are not infected with COVID,” said Dr. Jeff Salvon-Harman.
