American Coronavirus: The country recorded 195,000 new cases of Covid-19 in one day. Expert says spread is now ‘faster’ and ‘wider’ than ever

The spread is ‘faster’ and ‘wider’ than ever

Despite the alarming numbers, several experts predicted this week that things are likely to get worse before they get better.

“It’s faster. It’s wider. And what worries me is that it could be longer,” she said.

The Louisiana Department of Health announced that about 90% of newly reported cases were spread in the community, while 10% of them were in communities. Colorado officials said a new modeling report estimated that about one in 49 residents of the state is infected with Covid-19 – by far the highest prevalence since the virus arrived in that country. In Washington State, Gov. Jay Inslee said “the state is on fire” with the virus “raging” in his communities.

The announcements come ahead of Thanksgiving week, when health officials fear that many Americans will choose to visit family and friends and further fuel the spread of the virus – multiple times, without knowing it.

“The CDC and others estimate that more than 50% of all infections are transmitted by people who do not have symptoms,” the agency said on its website.

“This means that at least half of new infections come from people who are probably unaware that they are infectious to others.”

What this means for the country

The growing numbers have brought some hospital systems to their knees and prompted state leaders to take action to help curb the spread.

At least 24 hospital executives have warned the American Hospital Association that they are experiencing a staffing shortage, said Nancy Foster, the association’s vice president for quality and patient safety policy. These concerns have been raised in states such as Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota, all of which have recently seen infections soar, she added.

And these shortages are difficult to resolve when taken out of a workforce of healthcare workers “rightly suffering a significant emotional and physical toll due to the impact of the pandemic,” said Foster in a statement to CNN.

And in rural parts of the country, the challenge is often greater.

Of about 2,000 hospitals that are considered rural, about 1,700 have 50 beds or less and about 1,300 of them have 25 beds or less, according to Tom Morris, associate administrator of rural health policy at the government’s Health Resources and Services Administration. federal.

“We are not talking about large facilities. We are not talking about large intensive care capacity,” Morris said at the National Institutes of Health rural health seminar. “In many of these hospitals, they are able to provide ICU from one of the two beds.”

In response to the crisis, several governors this week announced new measures to fight the rise in infections and relieve strained hospital systems.

There is also good news

These include wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding crowds, and washing your hands regularly. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicted this week that about 65,000 lives could be saved by March 1 if 95% of Americans wore masks.

The CDC and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment looked at case trends for the month before the term and for the month after the term and found that in the 24 counties that required people to wear masks in public, there was a net decrease of 6%. in the cases. Meanwhile, in warrantless counties, the disease continued to increase, with a net increase in cases of around 100%.

And soon there could be more reinforcements in the battle against Covid-19.

While EUA’s request is “encouraging,” the Infectious Diseases Society of America stressed on Friday that a transparent review of Pfizer’s data was still needed.

And if the vaccine is given the green light, “clinical trials and data collection must continue,” Dr Barbara Alexander, president of IDSA, said in the statement.

“Measures that include wearing masks, frequent hand washing, maintaining physical distance and limiting the size of gatherings will remain crucial,” the statement said. “Finally, new federal funding must be provided for widespread, fair and equitable distribution of vaccines in addition to campaigns to build confidence in vaccines.”