One family's virus nightmare reflects deepening US crisis

First, Theresa Pirozzi’s 85-year-old dad got sick and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Days later, her mom was so weak she could barely walk. Now, instead of getting ready for Christmas, Pirozzi is anxiously awaiting updates from the hospital where both of her parents are in intensive care with the coronavirus.

“I’m not putting up decorations in here. It’s just not right, right now,” Pirozzi said from her parents’ home in Oak Park, California. “I’m physically ill from worry."

The couple are emblematic of the crisis deepening at an alarming rate in California, where hospitals are being stretched to their limits as the virus explodes across the state. Nearly 17,000 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections as of Friday and a state model that uses current data to forecast future trends shows the number could reach an unfathomable 75,000 by mid-January.

With California's more than 48,000 new cases leading the way, the United States as a whole added a record 249,709 new cases of COVID-19 in one day, Johns Hopkins University reported Saturday. The death toll now stands at more than 315,000.

Texas, Florida, New York and Tennessee all recorded more than 10,400 new cases each. Over the past two weeks, the seven-day rolling average for new cases in the U.S. jumped to 219,324 daily from 183,787, an increase of almost 20%.

Cases were on the rise before Thanksgiving, and holiday gatherings sent them even higher. Health officials now fear the increase will only be compounded through Christmas and New Year’s. In many places, health officials say, people tired of wearing face masks and staying away from others are simply disregarding suggested precautions.

While federal regulators have approved two vaccines to combat the illness and doses already have been given to...