TOPLINE
While the nation’s attention has remained focused on last week’s violent attack on the Capitol, the U.S. has just gone through its deadliest seven-day period yet in the Covid-19 pandemic, with a new single-day high of more than 4,400 deaths on Tuesday.
KEY FACTS
This is the second time in the seven days since Jan. 6 that the U.S. has reported a new record single-day death toll in the over 10 month-long pandemic.
The day after a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol complex, the U.S. reported over 4,000 deaths for the first time.
A total of 23,463 Americans have died in the week since Jan. 6, with data compiled by The New York Times showing the highest seven-day average death toll yet in the pandemic at 3,352.
BIG NUMBER
380,882. That’s how many people have died from Covid-19 in the U.S.
TANGENT
Covid-19 metrics were expected to be disrupted due to the holidays, with some states reporting new data irregularly. The Covid Tracking Project run by The Atlantic recommends analyzing data with 7-day or 14-day averages instead of with single-day values “to help mitigate the effect of these reporting spikes.”
TANGENT
Health experts have warned that the Capitol attack itself—which brought thousands of Trump supporters (predominantly maskless) within close proximity—may end up exacerbating the spread of Covid-19. “It is a very real possibility that this will lead to a major outbreak but one that we may or may not be able to recognize,” Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Washington Post. Three lawmakers who were sheltering inside the Capitol have said they since tested positive for the virus.
KEY BACKGROUND
The U.S. is juggling multiple new strains of the virus, including a variant that has wreaked havoc and caused a total shutdown of the United Kingdom. The country is still trailing far behind its goals on vaccinations, with the Trump administration announcing a strategy pivot on Tuesday of releasing all available doses for states to immediately begin vaccinating every American 65 or older.
