next president.More than 9.4 million people have been infected and 233,000 have died in the United States so far during the pandemic, by far the worst tolls in absolute terms globally.Cases have been surging to record highs across the country since mid-October, especially in the north and the Midwest.Health officials in some states have already sounded warnings about their ability to handle an influx in hospitalizations as the winter flu season looms.The pandemic has also slammed the US economy, fueling a historic contraction in growth and tens of millions of job losses.It also impacted the US election, with more than 100 million voters casting their ballot by mail or in person before Election Day on Tuesday -- the highest number of early.