'Chris Nightmare' US CDC Warns of 20,000 COVID Deaths During Christmas Week

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has publicly warned of a "Christmas nightmare" with a sharp increase in deaths from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the Christmas holiday period.

According to the Washington Post and others, on the 3rd (local time), the CDC compiled COVID-19 status prediction models released by 37 institutions and predicted that up to 19,500 people could die during the Christmas week alone.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The CDC stated that the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 could reach at least 303,000 and up to 329,000 by the end of December.

This suggests the possibility of up to 52,000 more deaths than the approximately 273,000 cumulative COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. based on Johns Hopkins University data.

As COVID-19 spreads rapidly, daily deaths in the U.S. have surged to 2,800, reaching an all-time high.

Robert Redfield, CDC Director, also expressed concern the previous day that up to 450,000 Americans could contract and die from COVID-19 by February next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.