Health experts are warning of a "very dark couple of months" ahead with the holiday season kicking off this week and the U. S. heading into its worst point yet of the coronavirus pandemic. The U. S. surpassed 12 million total cases Saturday after reporting steady rises in new infections over the past few weeks. It took the nation just 10 days to accumulate 1 million new infections between late October and early November, bringing it to more than 10 million total cases. It took six days after that to reach 11 million cases, and another six days to reach 12 million. The situation is expected to get worse over the next couple of months due to cooling temperatures that will make it difficult for people to socialize outside, the reappearance of winter respiratory diseases and the pull many Americans feel to gather with friends and family over the holidays. As these factors collide, health experts are painting a "gloomy picture" for hospitals that are expected to be under immense strain throughout the nation. Dr. Ali Mokdad is a professor of health metrics sciences and the chief strategy officer of population health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), a research institute based at the University of Washington. IHME creates modeled projections for COVID-19 infections, deaths and hospitalizations based on current and anticipated measures taken to curb the spread of the pandemic. The institute recently revised its models to predict that the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U. S. could rise from the more than 250,000 reported by mid-November to an estimated 471,000 by March 1—and that's only if at least 40 states reimpose pandemic restrictions due to continued surges in new infections. If additional restrictions are not introduced, the country's total COVID-19 death count could exceed 650,000 by March 1."We are heading in the wrong direction," Mokdad told Newsweek, adding that the IHME's models predict it "looks like a very dark couple of months" ahead for the U. S., with new infections likely to peak in mid-January and daily death counts expected to rise until mid-February."We are really facing a major challenge in this country with our hospitals," Mokdad said. "What we are looking at in our projections are a gloomy picture in December and January. Short of hitting the brakes very hard in some states, unfortunately these cases will keep rising. Forty states have to hit the brakes—and hit them very hard."How the country handles Thanksgiving will be telling for how dire the situation becomes, Mokdad said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a set of guidelines for Americans who do plan to visit with friends or family over the holiday, and states like California, Oregon and Washington announced travel advisories earlier this month discouraging travel and warning residents who do to quarantine for 14 days before visiting with others outside of their immediate families."We are so concerned about All data is taken from the source:
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