The United States passed 13 million confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 260,000 Americans so far, and public health experts expect deaths to continue rising in the winter as hospitals across the country reach capacity. The United States hit nine million cases on Oct. 30 and went on to notch nearly four million cases in November, its worst month on record. Several vaccines have emerged in recent weeks that promise to somewhat slow the rapid spread of the devastating respiratory illness. President-elect Joe Biden said he will make tackling the pandemic his administration’s top priority, whereas President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the country is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic as cases climbed.
