The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States continues to rise as the country set a new record on Thursday (July 16) with more than 75,000 new cases. It marked the first time that the number of new cases topped 70,000.
The virus also claimed the lives of 943 people, with Florida, Texas, and South Carolina, all reporting a record number of fatalities.
As the number of new cases climbs, hospitals around the nation are nearing their capacity to treat patients. In Florida, officials said they are capable of handling a surge of patients, but the continued increase in daily cases is pushing them to the brink.
"We can withstand a surge. We can withstand a disaster. But we can't withstand a disaster every single day," Jason Wilson, associate medical director of the emergency department at Tampa General Hospital, told the Washington Post. "How many jumbo jet crashes can you handle before you run out of capacity? That's what we're facing."
Health officials in Texas are warning that hospitals are running out ICU beds and ventilators as more and more patients flood the healthcare system.
"We are in dire need, and we are exhausted," Dr. Ivan Melendez, a public health official in Hidalgo County, Texas, told CNN. "We had four ICU patients. Now we have 211. We had three people on ventilators. Now we have 135."
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