A coronavirus testing lab. | Jane Barlow/WPA Pool via Getty Images

America’s coronavirus epidemic is already bad. The holidays could make it worse.

America’s Covid-19 epidemic is at the worst point it’s been since the spring. And experts say it looks poised to get much worse this Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, with a vaccine likely still months away.

The US hit an all-time record for coronavirus cases in a single day on Friday, November 13: more than 181,000. That came just nine days after the country hit more than 100,000 cases in a single day on November 4. The weekly average of daily new cases stood above 155,000 as of November 16 — nearly triple what it was a month ago.

While testing can help explain why the US is recording more cases now than it did