American coronavirus: Covid-19 vaccines could be available to the general public in April in the United States, according to Fauci

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed a bill protecting businesses and places of worship from legal liability for the transmission of Covid-19 as long as they take action to follow public health guidelines, and announced that he would not extend the mask’s mandate statewide.

“The mask’s mandate will expire on Friday,” the governor said, adding: “Since we are not out of the woods yet, I will continue to wear a mask, and I will encourage all Montanais to do the same.”

However, New York stadiums must limit their capacity to 10%; they must ensure that all staff and spectators have received a negative Covid-19 PCR test within the past 72 hours; and they must enforce face covers and assigned and socially remote seats.

In New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state would drop its mandatory quarantine rule for people coming from “high risk” states, attributing the policy change to a “cautiously brighter pandemic prospect afterwards. several months of unsustainable pressure on the state health care system. ”

“It’s absolutely essential that we continue to take steps beyond vaccination to keep this under control,” Besser said. “The more this virus is allowed to spread in our communities, the more we will see these variants spread.”

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are down, so far

The CDC said a more transmissible variant first identified in the UK could be dominant in the US in March and could worsen the spread of the virus.

For now, however, the rates of new Covid-19 cases and deaths, as well as the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals, are dropping after the holiday peaks:

– Case: The United States recorded an average of 104,304 new cases of Covid-19 per day over the past week – a 58% drop from the country’s peak average of more than 249,800 on January 8, according to the data from Johns Hopkins University.

– Hospitalizations: More than 76,900 Covid-19 patients were in U.S. hospitals Wednesday – the lowest total since November 16, according to the COVID Tracking Project. The number has been below 100,000 for 12 consecutive days.

– Deaths: The country has recorded an average of 2,779 Covid-19 deaths per day over the past week – down from the country’s maximum average of 3,363 in mid-January, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

– The national test positivity rate – or the percentage of tests done that turn out positive – now averages 6.49%, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

That’s down from a winter high of around 13.6% in early January. But the World Health Organization has recommended governments not to reopen until the test’s positivity rate is 5% or less for at least two weeks.

Which states are looking for variants

But only eight states have genetically sequenced more than 1% of their total Covid-19 cases during the pandemic – compared to the national average of just under 0.4%, according to CDC data.

These states include Hawaii, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington state, and Wyoming.

Eighteen states have sequenced less than 0.1% of their confirmed cases of Covid-19.

CDC: second dose of vaccine can be given later

Meanwhile, the CDC also released new best practice guidelines for managing second doses of the vaccine.

The Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are given in two doses, 21 and 28 days apart, respectively.

But if it is not possible to meet these recommended intervals, the new CDC guidelines say the second dose “may be scheduled for administration up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose.”

The agency said on Wednesday that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can skip quarantine if exposed to someone infected with the virus.

“Fully vaccinated people who meet the criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following exposure to someone with COVID-19,” the CDC said.

This criterion: people must be fully vaccinated – after having had both vaccines with at least two weeks after the second shot.

But the agency added that the protection may disappear after three months, so people who had their last injection three months or more ago should quarantine if exposed, and they should also quarantine themselves. if they are showing symptoms.

“At this time, those vaccinated should continue to follow current guidelines to protect themselves and others, including wearing a mask, staying at least six feet from others, avoiding crowds, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, washing your hands often following CDC travel advice, and following applicable workplace or school guidelines, ”the agency said .