It’s easy to be distracted by the US election, but in the background it’s clear that the colder states are seeing a massive increase in coronavirus cases, presumably partly as a result of people spending more time together indoors, as winter hits.
By the time Joe Biden takes the reins as president (assuming he does) the covid situation in many US states will be totally out of control. As you can see on the chart above, there is a clear and persistent uptick in cases in quite a few mostly northern states; and winter has scarcely begun.
I’ve put New York on the graph above for reference, but it is somewhat flawed because the initial peak in New York was a massive under-count of actual cases, which is why deaths were so bad in New York in March. But even so, it’s clear that health systems won’t be able to handle the demand.
Indeed, the Chicago Tribune reports that “Illinois COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising so quickly that, in roughly a week, the number could surpass the highest tally seen in the spring surge, a Tribune analysis has found.” And Chicago is not alone. For many places in America, covid is about to be a show stopper.