The Johns Hopkins COVID Dashboard for Saturday, November 21, at 5:25 a.m.:

Worldwide cases: 57,733,516     Worldwide deaths:  1,376,404

U.S. cases: 11,928,902  U.S. deaths: 254,560

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide case report increased by 623,230  in the last 24 hours.  Deaths worldwide increased by 12,331.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 188,673 cases in the last 24 hours.  This is the 16th day in a row the new cases have been greater than 100,000.  The increase in cases is alarming health officials, who are urging people to avoid gatherings–even at Thanksgiving–to avoid further increasing the spread of the virus.  The COVID Tracking Project reports that more than 82,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.   In the last day,  the number of reported deaths from  COVID-19 increased by 1,722.

The CDC, in new information released on Friday, says the spread of the virus now is mostly by people with no symptoms, and it again urges people to wear masks.  The guidance says non-valved, multi-layer cloth masks which cover the nose and mouth are best.  “Masks are primarily intended to reduce the emission of virus-laden droplets (“source control”), which is especially relevant for asymptomatic or presymptomatic infected wearers who feel well and may be unaware of their infectiousness to others, and who are estimated to account for more than 50% of transmissions.”  The document also says wearing a mask reduces the chance for the wearer to inhale droplets.