New COVID cases were 300% higher this Labor Day weekend than last year

(HealthDay) – With the Delta variant surging and many Americans without masks and vaccines, new cases of COVID-19 reached levels over the Labor Day long weekend that were 300% higher than those seen over the same weekend in 2020, according to a new count from Johns Hopkins University.

This means crowded hospitals and a growing number of infected children at the start of the new school year, according to CNN.

“The point to remember for everyone is to get your injections and definitely wear a mask for that extra layer of protection if you are currently in indoor public spaces,” Dr Megan Ranney, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Dean of public health at Brown University in Providence, RI, told the news agency.

The increase in the number of new cases could really peak in about two weeks: last year around this time, cases increased in 31 states, and the number of people testing positive for the novel coronavirus infection. also increased in 25 states, CNN noted.

And last year, the Americans didn’t have to face the highly transmissible Delta variant. That’s part of the reason CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky last week urged people to limit their travel during the Labor Day vacation. She also once again lobbied for vaccination: Currently, only 62% of Americans eligible for a vaccine (all those aged 12 and over) are fully vaccinated.

It’s the unvaccinated people who land in hospitals and die, experts say.

“Here’s the important thing: Not everyone I hospitalize is vaccinated,” Ranney said. CNN. “Overall, across the country, we do not need to hospitalize people who have received both doses of the vaccine. It is currently a disease of the unvaccinated.”

This is emerging as a key factor in the states hardest hit by COVID-19. According to CNN, less than 40% of people in Alabama, Wyoming, Idaho, Mississippi and West Virginia are vaccinated, and in two of those states, Alabama and Mississippi, intensive care units (ICU) hospitals already have more than 90% of intensive care beds. taken.

Four other states – Georgia, Arkansas, Texas and Florida – also have less than 10% critical care capacity, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

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