Coronavirus cases break records as states in every part of U.S. reel under the surge

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-cases-break-records-states-every-part-u-s-reel-n1244647

 

Oct. 24, 2020, 5:26 PM EDT
By Nicole Acevedo

 As the United States set records for the number of new coronavirus cases, states in every part of the country are reeling under the surge.

Two back-to-back daily records for single-day increases in U.S. cases were set on Friday, with 79,303 new cases, and on Thursday with 77,640, according to NBC News' tally. The previous high of 75,723 was set July 29.

The total number of cases has reached 8.6 million, with over 225,000 deaths.

And the toll is being felt around the country.

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In Idaho, a hospital in northern part of the state said it is running out of space for patients and is considering airlifting people to Seattle or Portland after the facility reached 99 percent capacity, according to Dr. Robert Scoggins, a pulmonologist at the Kootenai Health hospital in Coeur d’Alene.

“We’ve essentially shut down an entire floor of our hospital," he said. "We’ve had to double rooms. We’ve bought more hospital beds.”

Another hospital in the southern Idaho city of Twin Falls, stopped accepting children because it is overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. Newborns and all patients under age 18 will be sent to Boise, a town 128 miles away.

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