US coronavirus cases jumped by over 10% this past week and over 1 million were added in 5 days

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US coronavirus cases jumped by over 10% this past week and over 1 million were added in 5 days
Medical staff check on a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on December 2, 2020 in Houston, Texas.Go Nakamura/Getty Images
  • The US added over 1 million cases of coronavirus in the first five days of December and recorded a 10% increase in cases over the past week, according to the COVID Tracking project.
  • Despite the CDC's recommendation that the American public does not travel for Thanksgiving, a high number of travelers flew throughout the holiday, with over 1 million passing airports last Sunday alone.
  • Public health experts have warned of the consequences the amount of travel over the Thanksgiving holiday could have on coronavirus spread.
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In the week following the Thanksgiving holiday, the US is seeing grim numbers on coronavirus.

The US added over 1 million cases of coronavirus in the first five days of December and recorded a 10% increase in cases over the past week, according to the COVID Tracking project.

On Wednesday, the US surpassed 100,000 current coronavirus hospitalizations, according to data from the COVID Tracking project, and the US has a total of over 14 million confirmed cases and 280,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the CDC recommended that the American public against traveling. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said his adult children would not visiting him this time around to avoid risking his family's health.

However, a high number of travelers flew throughout the holiday, with over 1 million passing through airports last Sunday alone.

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Public health experts have warned of the consequences the amount of travel could have on coronavirus spread. Dr. Fauci warned there "certainly is going to be an uptick" in coronavirus cases due to the holiday travel, and White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said families should "assume that you were exposed" if they traveled during the holiday, and recommended they get tested for coronavirus and wear masks.

Meanwhile, Moderna and Pfizer have both filed for emergency-use authorization of their vaccines to the Food and Drug Administration last month, after reporting a 94.5% and 95% efficacy level in its late-stage clinical trial, respectively.

However, it will still take months until most of the American public will be able to receive a vaccine. Dr. Fauci said last month that the US could get back to a "relative normal" by the "second and third quarter" of 2021.

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