US saw dramatic increases in cases, deaths last week: HHS
After a slowdown in reporting and testing over the Thanksgiving holiday, week-over-week data shows dramatic increases in new cases and new deaths in the U.S., according to an internal memo from the United States Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News.
From Dec. 1 to Dec. 7, the country recorded 1,341,309 new cases, which was an 18.8% jump from the previous seven-day period, according to the memo.
During that same period, the U.S. saw 15,202 new coronavirus related deaths, which was a 50.6% increase compared with the previous week, HHS said.
About 29% of the nation's hospitals have more than 80% of their ICU beds filled, the memo said.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin