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NEW YORK (AP) – The United States topped one million new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the first 10 days of November alone, with more than 100,000 infections each day becoming the norm in a wave that shows no signs of slowing down .
The million mark has come as governors across the country are making increasingly desperate appeals to the public to take the fight against the virus more seriously. The governor of Wisconsin was planning to make the unusual move to deliver a live speech to the state on Tuesday, calling for unity and cooperation to fight COVID-19.
The governor of Minnesota has ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m., and the governor of Iowa has said she will require masks at indoor gatherings of 25 or more people, moving towards stricter measures after months of resistance.
The alarming wave of cases across the United States appears larger and more widespread than the surges that occurred in the spring, mainly in the northeast, and then in the summer, mainly in the solar belt. But experts say there is also reason to believe the country is better able to tackle the virus this time around.
“We are definitely in a better position” in terms of improving medical tools and knowledge, said William Hanage, infectious disease researcher at Harvard University.
Recently confirmed infections in the United States are reaching all-time highs of over 100,000 a day, bringing the cumulative total to over 10 million and eclipsing 1 million since Halloween.
Several states released records Tuesday, including more than 12,000 new cases in Illinois, 7,000 in Wisconsin and 6,500 in Ohio.
Deaths – a lagging indicator, as it takes time for people to get sick and die – are rising again, averaging over 930 per day.
Hospitals are criticized. And unlike previous epidemics, this one is not confined to one or two regions. Cases are on the rise in 49 states.
“The virus is spreading in a largely uncontrolled manner across the vast majority of the country,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.
While deaths are still well below the US peak of around 2,200 per day in April, some researchers estimate the country’s overall death toll will reach around 400,000 by February 1, compared to around 240,000 today.
But there is also good news.
Doctors now know better how to treat severe cases, which means higher percentages of COVID-19 patients who go to intensive care units are coming out alive. Patients are benefiting from new treatments, namely remdesivir, the steroid dexamethasone and a drug antibody that gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. In addition, the tests are more widely available.
In addition, a vaccine appears to be on the horizon, perhaps towards the end of the year, with Pfizer this week reporting the first results showing that its experimental injections are surprisingly 90% effective in preventing the disease.
And there is a pending change in the White House, with President-elect Joe Biden pledging to rely on a set of well-respected medical advisers and to implement a comprehensive coronavirus plan that experts say understands the type of actions that will be needed to bring the outbreak under control.
Biden pledged during the campaign to be guided by science, make testing free and widely available, hire thousands of health workers to undertake contact tracing, and ask the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide clear and expert advice.
“We are already seeing encouraging signs from President-elect Biden regarding his handling of COVID-19,” said Dr Kelly Henning, a senior epidemiologist who heads the public health programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies.
“I am relieved to see that he has already put some of the smartest scientific minds into his new coronavirus task force and that they are acting urgently to try to bring the pandemic under control as quickly as possible.
While the first wave in the Northeast caught many Americans off guard and cut a particularly deadly swath in nursing homes, the second ridge along the nation’s southern and western edge has been attributed primarily to a reckless behavior, especially among young adults on Remembrance Day and July 4, and hot weather that sent people indoors, where the virus spreads more easily.
Likewise, the fall wave has been largely blamed on the cold pushing people in and out of masks and social distancing, fueled by President Donald Trump and other politicians.
Even in areas of the country that have experienced coronavirus outbreaks in the past, “you see people coming out” and letting your guard down, Schaffner said.
“There is really some COVID fatigue that blends into the COVID embarrassment,” he says.
The near-term outlook is bleak, with colder weather and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years ahead. Generations of family members meeting indoors for meals for long periods of time “is not a recipe for anything good,” Hanage said.
Other factors could contribute to the spread of the virus in the coming weeks: last weekend, big street celebrations and protests were organized during the election. On Saturday night, an upset victory for the Notre Dame football team sent thousands of students en masse onto the pitch, many without masks.
Meanwhile, the next two months will see a lame Congress and a president who may be even less inclined than before to adopt disease-fighting measures. Those who have been removed from their posts or who no longer fear being re-elected for at least two years, “will not be motivated to do a fantastic job,” Hanage said.
Experts are increasingly alarmed by the resurgence of the virus in places like Massachusetts, which has seen a dramatic increase in cases since Labor Day, largely blamed on young people who socialize.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker warns the health care system could be overwhelmed this winter, and he recently ordered restaurants to stop table service, forced many businesses to close before 9:30 p.m. and asked residents to stay away. home between 10 p.m. and 5 p.m. a m
Brooke Nichols, professor and mathematical modeler of infectious diseases at the Boston University School of Public Health, said the governor’s actions do not go far enough.
“Right now, because of the exponential growth, throw out the kitchen sink, and you will be able to do it for a shorter time,” Nichols said.
Meanwhile, political leaders in a number of new coronavirus hot spots are doing less. In hard-hit South Dakota, Governor Kristi Noem has made it clear that she will not institute a mask requirement and has cast doubts among health experts who say face covers prevent infections from spreading. spread.
Even higher case and death rates have been seen in North Dakota, where many people have refused to wear masks. Governor Doug Burgum pleaded with people to do so and praised the local towns that have mandated the masks. But he avoided demanding masks himself.
Noem and Burgum are both Republicans and have taken positions consistent with those of the president.
“It would be simplistic to say it’s a red versus a blue experiment, but it is in the party’s direction whether people took it seriously, tried to prevent it, and took painful measures,” compared to those who said, ‘Let it rip,’ said Dr. Howard Markel, public health historian at the University of Michigan.
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Associated Press editor Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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