COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the United States. Hospitalizations have topped 90,000 for the first time. Four million new cases were recorded in November, double the record set in October, bringing the U.S. death toll to 267,000. Among the dead are over 100,000 residents and staffers at nursing homes. In nine states, more than one in a thousand people have died of coronavirus-related causes since March. Experts are warning the worst is yet to come, and the U.S. could see some 4,000 deaths per day this winter. Post-Thanksgiving holiday travel could also lead to what the government’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, called a “superimposed” surge as health officials urge any travelers to get tested and take all necessary precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19.

In medical news, Biotech company Moderna is applying for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration today — the second vaccine maker after Pfizer and BioNTech to do so. But as drug companies rush to get coronavirus vaccines approved and on the market, doctors and public health experts warn the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in poorer, rural parts of the country will be a major challenge, due both to logistical hurdles and mistrust of the medical industry.