In the last week alone, nearly 1 out of every 200 Americans was diagnosed with the coronavirus — an astronomically large portion of the population to be sick at the same time.
Why it matters: This will translate into large numbers of hospitalizations — and eventually deaths — in the coming weeks. It also means the rest of us have a decent chance of interacting with someone who is infected, anywhere we go.
By the numbers: Nationally, 0.9% of Americans have been diagnosed with the virus over the last 14 days, or nearly 1 out of every 100 people. That's probably an undercount of the real number of infections across the country, as not everyone who is infected gets tested.
In Tennessee, nearly 1 of every 100 state residents have been diagnosed within the last week, making it the state with the highest number of new cases by population in the country.
In California, the most populous state in the U.S., roughly 1 of every 150residents were diagnosed this week, contributing tens of thousands of cases to the national total every day.
What's happening: California's health care system is already buckling, AP reports.
Hospitals across the state "have all but run out of intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients, ambulances are backing up outside emergency rooms, and tents for triaging the sick are going up," per AP.