Coronavirus spike predicted after Thanksgiving

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A top emergency physician says a spike in COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving could strain the U.S. healthcare system.

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are surging already in the U.S.

The country reported more than 184,000 new cases Friday, a little more than a week after surpassing 100,000.

Doctor James Phillips is Chief of Disaster Medicine at George Washington University Hospital.

He says adding a Thanksgiving spike to those numbers would make matters much worse.

"I'm just terrified of what's going to happen with Thanksgiving and the holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah. People are going to travel. People that would normally travel because they don't believe in the science, and people who are fatigued, who are willing to take their chances," Dr. Phillips said. "We're going to see an unprecedented surge of cases following Thanksgiving this year, and if people don't learn from Thanksgiving, we're going to see it after Christmas as well."

Hospitalizations have hit record highs for four days in a row.

Several governors have implemented new emergency measures to try to curtail COVID-19 spread.