Here’s why Dr Fauci thinks all of our COVID progress may soon evaporate – BGR

• As of midday on Tuesday, the latest coronavirus update for the United States shows more than 27.1 million cases of COVID-19 have been identified here since the start of the pandemic.
  
• Even though the pace of new infections has slowed, experts like White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci believe that may change soon.
• The reason is the much more transmissible and contagious COVID-19 variant strains from places like South Africa.

The latest coronavirus update from the Johns Hopkins University research team following the pandemic shows that there have been more than 27.1 million cases of coronavirus in the United States to date, as well that more than 465,000 deaths. As we’ve noted on several occasions, part of what is largely behind the numbers now, which have seen a promising decline in recent days, are the newer, more transmissible, variant strains of COVID-19 – than experts like those at the CDC as well as White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci is set to become the dominant strains in the United States very soon.

This change is happening at precisely the worst time, with state and local governments finally starting to ease restrictions on places like restaurants – which have tended to be capped at a limited maximum capacity as COVID cases have climbed – like a much stronger wave of new COVID infections could be about to materialize. That sort of move can be seen in Iowa, where the state’s Republican governor lifted the state’s partial mask mandate late last week. The editorial board of the journal The register of Monks also criticized Gov. Kim Reynolds’ accompanying decision to remove limits on public gatherings, as well as on the number of customers allowed at a business. In an interview with NBC NewsJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health infectious disease epidemiologist Dr Justin Lessler confessed that “I’m afraid it’s premature” to start removing these types of restrictions, with Dr Fauci providing context. additional in this sense.

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Ultimately, Dr Fauci fears that we are about to be hit by a frightening wave of varieties of COVID variants that are much more contagious – that threaten to explode cases again. And you know what follows. More cases = more hospitalizations = more deaths from coronaviruses.

“What we are now seeing in our country is still a dominant and original (contra) wild-type virus for which vaccines are very effective, 94-95%,” Dr Fauci said during the team briefing. Monday’s White House COVID-19 response, which you can check out below. “The immediate concern we have is that the fact that we have the 117 (variant) in certainly a considerable number of states, has reported with a number of people that modeling would tell us it could become dominant by now.” the end of March. This is the sobering news.

Dr Fauci continued, “A virus is transmissible and virulent, and the degree of transmissibility and the degree of virulence may actually overlap… A virus that has a higher degree of transmissibility will make more people sick. The more people get sick, the more people will be hospitalized. And the more people who are hospitalized, the more likely you are to die. “

The good news is that this negative turn of events doesn’t have to be inevitable. According to Dr Fauci, the COVID vaccines we currently have are effective against the UK variant COVID (but “less against the South African strain”). That’s why the current game plan essentially involves a race against time – vaccinating people as quickly as possible and encouraging everyone, vaccinated or not, to continue to adhere to current public safety protocols.

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Andy is a reporter in Memphis who also contributes to media outlets like Fast Company and The Guardian. When he’s not writing about tech, he can be found protectively hunched over his burgeoning vinyl collection, as well as nurturing his Whovianism and gorging himself on a variety of TV shows you probably don’t like. .