As many Americans travel to be with family and friends for the holiday or celebrate virtually, the reality is millions will, unfortunately, have an empty seat at the table this year.
Over 328,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S.
You can see deaths rising over the last month. And now the CDC projects the death toll could reach as high as 419,000 by mid-January.
That means hospitals will continue to be tight on space and resources.
Over 120,000 people are battling the virus from a hospital bed this morning.
To put that into perspective, that's almost three times the number of people that fit in an average MLB stadium.
You can see here where new cases are growing the fastest: California becoming the first state to surpass 2 million reported cases.
And as vaccines roll out, health care workers say those shots can't come soon enough.
"Every day, ... I look into the eyes of someone that's struggling to breathe, who's struggling to get well, they want to be home with their family,” said nurse Jenny Carrillo.
“I don't know how much more we can continue to care for."
California recorded a half a million cases in the last two weeks alone. And next month, Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state could face a record-breaking 100,000 hospitalizations.
