Share of U.S. COVID-19 cases resulting in death from Feb. 12 to Mar. 16, by age

Among COVID-19 patients in the United States from February 12 to March 16, 2020, estimated case-fatality rates were highest for adults aged 85 years and older. Younger people appeared to have milder symptoms, and there were no deaths reported among persons aged 19 years and under.Tracking the virus in the United StatesThe outbreak of a previously unknown viral pneumonia was first reported in China toward the end of December 2019. The first U.S. case of COVID-19 was recorded in mid-January 2020, confirmed in a patient who had returned to the United States from China. The virus quickly started to spread, and the first community-acquired case was confirmed one month later in California. Overall, there had been approximately 4.5 million coronavirus cases in the country by the start of August 2020.U.S. health care system stretchedCalifornia, Florida, and Texas are among the states with the most coronavirus cases. Even the best-resourced hospitals in the United States have struggled to cope with the crisis, and certain areas of the country were dealt further blows by new waves of infections in July 2020. Attention is rightly focused on fighting the pandemic, but as health workers are redirected to care for COVID-19 patients, the United States must not lose sight of other important health care issues.

在2020年2月12日至3月16日期间，美国COVID-19患者的估计病死率在85岁及以上的成年人中最高。年轻人似乎表现出较为轻微的症状，且在19岁及以下的人群中未报告任何死亡案例。追踪美国疫情：一种此前未曾知晓的病毒性肺炎于2019年12月底首次在中国爆发。2020年1月中旬，美国记录了首例COVID-19病例，患者系从中国返回。病毒迅速开始传播，一个月后在加利福尼亚州确认了首例社区获得性病例。截至2020年8月初，该国已有约450万例冠状病毒病例。美国医疗体系面临挑战：加利福尼亚州、佛罗里达州和德克萨斯州是疫情最严重的州之一。即使是资源最丰富的医院在美国也难以应对此次危机，2020年7月，该国某些地区因感染新波次而遭受了进一步的打击。尽管焦点应放在抗击疫情上，但鉴于医疗工作者正被重新调配以照料COVID-19患者，美国不应忽视其他重要的医疗保健问题。