Coronavirus deaths are rising in nearly two-thirds of American states as a winter surge pushes the overall toll toward 400,000 amid warnings that a new, highly contagious variant is taking hold.
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As Americans observed a national holiday on Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pleaded with federal authorities to curtail travel from countries where new variants are spreading.
Referring to new versions detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, Cuomo said: "Stop those people from coming here. Why are you allowing people to fly into this country and then it's too late?"
The US government has already curbed travel from some of the places where the new variants are spreading - such as Britain and Brazil - and recently it announced that it would require proof of a negative COVID-19 test for anyone flying into the country.
But the new variant seen in Britain is already spreading in the US, and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection has warned that it will probably become the dominant version in the country by March.
The CDC said the variant is about 50 per cent more contagious than the virus that is causing the bulk of cases in the US
While the variant does not cause more severe illness, it can cause more hospitalisations and deaths simply because it spreads more easily. In Britain, it has aggravated a severe outbreak that has swamped hospitals, and it has been blamed for sharp leaps in cases in some other European countries.
As things stand, many US states are already under tremendous strain. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths is rising in 30 states and the District of Columbia, and on Monday the US death toll surpassed 398,000, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University - by far the highest recorded death toll of any country in the world.
Amid the rise in cases, a vast effort is under way to get Americans vaccinated - what Cuomo called "a footrace" between the vaccination rate and the infection rate. But the campaign is off to an uneven start.
According to the latest federal data, about 31.2 million doses of vaccine have been distributed, but only about 10.6 million people have received at least one dose.
In California, the most populous state, counties are pleading for more vaccine as the state tries to reduce a high rate of infection that has led to record numbers of hospitalisations and deaths.
In other areas of the country, officials are working to ensure that people take the vaccine once they're offered it amid concerns that many people are hesitant.
Australian Associated Press
