US faces “rough months ahead” from COVID-19

The S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent last week to a record high. It was its fourth weekly gain in five weeks.

Optimism over the release of COVID-19 vaccines helped drive the rally in stocks despite a disappointing US jobs report on Friday.

Still, COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the US, with hospitalisations for the disease hitting a record high on Sunday.

Also, a report published last week by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine said that the number of people in the US killed by COVID-19 could nearly double in the next several months despite a nationwide vaccine rollout.

“Mass scale-up of vaccination in 2021 means we have a path back to normal life, but there are still a few rough months ahead,” IHME Director Christopher Murray said in a statement.