More than 79,000 new cases of the virus were reported across the United States Friday, shattering an earlier single-day record and stirring new fears about the months ahead.

New York Times

The United States is in the midst of one of the most severe surges of the coronavirus to date, with more new cases reported across the country Friday than on any other single day since the pandemic began.

Since the start of October, the rise in cases has been steady and inexorable, with no plateau in sight. By Friday evening, more than 79,000 cases had been reported across the country, breaking a single-day record set on July 16 by more than 3,000 cases.

By that measure, Friday was the worst day of the pandemic, and health experts warned of a further surge as cold weather sets in. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has already risen 40% in the past month. Deaths have remained relatively flat but are often a lagging indicator.

The latest outbreaks, tracked by The New York Times using reports from state and local health departments, are scattered across the country, in states like Illinois and Rhode Island, which are experiencing a second upswing, and in places like Montana and South Dakota, which are still enduring a first flood of cases.

Thirteen states have added more new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past week than in any other seven-day stretch. As of Friday, six states had set or tied weekly records for new deaths. Wisconsin had its deadliest day of the pandemic on Wednesday, with 47 total deaths announced.

The geography of the pandemic has constantly changed since the coronavirus reached the United States last winter. Outbreaks struck the Northeast in the spring, the Sun Belt in the summer and now the states of the Midwest and the West, which hold the 10 counties in the country with the most recent cases per capita.

“It’s been rise after rise after rise, week after week,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Nothing has been added to the mix that’s going to make things slow down.”

- Reporting by Campbell Robertson, Edgar Sandoval, Lucy Tompkins and Simon Romero.

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