The Johns Hopkins COVID Dashboard for Wednesday, December 9 at 5:26 a.m.:

Worldwide cases: 68,414,122     Worldwide deaths: 1,560,630

U.S. cases: 15,186,244   U.S. deaths: 286,461

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide case report increased by 632,729  in the last 24 hours.  Deaths worldwide increased by 12,114.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 218,626 cases in the last 24 hours.

In the last day,  the number of reported deaths in the U.S. from  COVID-19 increased by 2,345.

The COVID Tracking Project reports that 104,600 people were hospitalized nationwide with COVID-19 as of yesterday.  Hospitalization rates on the mainland have been increasing at an alarming rate, with some hospitals getting close to being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.   On the Big Island, Hawaii County Civil Defense reported on Tuesday that 2 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.

Hawaii has 18,661 cumulative cases of COVID-19, as of Sunday’s count (released on Tuesday).  For the full state report provided Tuesday, click here.