US Covid death toll returns to grim early levels

A member of the National Guard assisting at a Covid-19 mobile testing location in Auburn, Maine (Robert F Bukaty/AP)

Nearly 37,000 Americans died of Covid-19 in November, the most in any month since the early days of the pandemic, in an upsurge which has tested the capacity of morgues, funeral homes and hospitals.

Amid the resurgence, states have begun reopening field hospitals to handle an influx of patients that is pushing health care systems — and their workers — to breaking point.