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With the arrival of December, it's now clear the winter surge of the pandemic is materializing in many of the ways that the country's top scientists and health care leaders feared. On all fronts — cases, hospitalizations and deaths — the U.S. toppled records this week. For the first time, new infections soared above 200,000 cases in a single day. (Stone, 12/5)

As the US nears an average of 200,000 Covid-19 cases a day, experts say "behavior and cold weather" are behind the current surge gripping American communities. "People are going indoors, they're not minding the three W's," Health and Human Services secretary, Alex Azar, told Fox News's Chris Wallace Sunday. "Our advice is always the same. Wash your hands, watch your distance, wear face coverings." (Holcombe, 12/7)

Faced with an explosion of seriously ill coronavirus patients in New Mexico hospitals, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has taken the first step toward the grim possibility of rationing care. In an executive order issued Friday, the governor said she wants her medical advisory team to recommend “if and when” the state should activate “crisis care” standards. (Heild, 12/6)

Pennsylvania and New Jersey tallied new daily records for coronavirus infections over the weekend, as the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 surpassed 280,000 nationwide on Sunday. New Jersey on Sunday reported 6,046 confirmed new COVID-19 cases, an increase of 13% over Saturday and the highest total since the pandemic took hold in March, the state Health Department said. (Maykuth, 12/6)

With Sunday's report of 2,567 new coronavirus cases, Kentucky has now seen more than 200,000 cases since the start of the pandemic. The commonwealth hit another tragic milestone earlier this week: 2,000 deaths caused by COVID-19. Gov. Andy Beshear announced 10 more deaths Sunday, bringing Kentucky's total to 2,072. (Austin, 12/6)