U.S. Reports 1 Million New Coronavirus Cases in Just 5 Days, Tops 14 Million-Infection Threshold

Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has reported over 14.6 million cases of the coronavirus

Coronavirus. Photo: Getty

The United States has reported an additional one million new coronavirus cases in just five days.

According to CNN and the Johns Hopkins University database, 1,000,882 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from last Tuesday to Sunday in the U.S., bringing the nation's overall total to over 14.6 million since the start of the pandemic.

"Every single day, thousands more people are getting this virus, and we know that means that in a few days, in a week, hundreds of people are going to be coming to the hospital and hundreds of people are going to die," Dr. Shirlee Xie, associate director of hospital medicine for Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, told CNN.

"I think that sometimes when you hear statistics like that, you become numb to what those numbers mean," she said. "But for us, the people that are taking care of these patients, every single number is somebody that we have to look at and say, 'I'm sorry, there's nothing more I can do for you.'"

According to the Covid Tracking Project, there have been more than 100,000 people hospitalized due to coronavirus complications in the last week. "Hospitalizations are up almost 12% since last Saturday," the account shared on Saturday.

The impact of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings is just starting to show, with the Covid Tracking Project tweeting, "We should still assume that many of these very high case and death numbers are [because] of the holiday effect."

In the last week, the seven-day average for reported COVID-19 death has also risen to 2,123 — surpassing the previous high of 2,116 reported in April.

As cases and deaths soar across the country, states are beginning to bring back stricter protocols to contain the spread. Southern California announced a new stay-at-home order to begin on Sunday after hospitalizations tripled in Los Angeles last week.

President-elect Joe Biden recently announced that he plans to ask the public to wear face masks for the first 100 days he's in office in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

"On the first day I’m inaugurated, I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask," he said. "Just 100 days to mask — not forever, just 100 days. And I think we'll see a significant reduction."

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing two vaccine candidates, made by Pfizer and Moderna. Both companies have requested emergency use authorization from the FDA to begin administering the vaccine.

Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton said they would volunteer to take the COVID-19 vaccine publicly in order to prove its safety to the American public. Biden said he'd be "happy to" get the injection as well in order to demonstrate his confidence in it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, said last month that the majority of Americans who wish to get vaccinated should be able to by April or May of next year.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.