The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) a global health research center at the University of Washington expects a further increase in cases and 300,000 deaths by early December.

At least 515 people succumbed to COVID-19 in the US in 24 hours until yesterday Sunday at 07:00 (Greek time), according to the Reuters count based on the announcements of the state health authorities, while in the same period, 40,057 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were confirmed.

The total death toll in the country, which is by far the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic on the planet, has reached 170,040 dead out of a total of 5.42 million people infected, according to the agency’s count.

California, one of the states that has become one of the hotspots of the pandemic in recent times, recorded 12 deaths and 4,841 cases of infection, with the state accounting for 11,243 deaths out of a total of 625,057 infections.

The United States exceeded the limit of 170,000 deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday, at the time when public health experts are expressing strong concern about the risk that the coronavirus pandemic will become much more complicated during the autumn seasonal flu.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) of the University of Washington expects a further increase in infections from SARS-CoV-2 in the coming months and predicts that the death toll due to COVID-19 may have reached around 300,000 by the beginning of December. It is also concerned about the threatening 75% increase in hospital admissions.