Early this morning, the number of deaths in the United States due to COVID-19 reached 13,000. Within just two days after cresting 10,000, the country witnessed its deadliest day on Wednesday. 

Looking at the current situation, U.S. top surgeon General Jerome Adams withdrew from a weekend prediction. He said he expected deaths in the country would be less than the projections made by the White House Task Force a week ago. He believed it to be less than 100,000 to 240,000.

“That is absolutely my expectation, and I feel a lot more optimistic because I’m seeing mitigation work,” said Adams. He appreciated the work done by public health officials in California and Washington state, where the number of new cases has declined. On Sunday, Adams warned that this week would be the pandemic’s “Pearl Harbor moment.”

On the other hand, on Tuesday night Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an order asking all residents to wear masks when visiting essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies. 

Till Wednesday morning, almost 400,000 positive cases of coronavirus have been registered in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard. Globally, there are 1.4 million confirmed cases, and over 83,000 deaths have been registered.