The limits of indoor gatherings are back. The same goes for lines at test sites.

In Hawaii, indoor social gatherings are again limited to 10 people. In New Orleans, the Covid-19 driving test sites are back. And in Florida, a record number of people are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus.

As the hypertransmissible delta variant spreads across the United States, bringing new daily Covid-19 cases to a six-month high, many parts of the country are experiencing a déjà vu reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic – what the experts say could have been avoided.

“This whole increase was completely preventable,” said Tener Goodwin Veenema, professor and visiting researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, adding that if more people had chosen to be vaccinated as soon as they were eligible, it would have slowed the rate down. spread of the virus.

“We have definitely taken a huge step backwards,” she added. “On the contrary, this fourth wave simply provides more compelling evidence to universally implement the public health measures that we know will stop the spread of the pandemic. “

The explosive rise in the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, mostly among unvaccinated people, has prompted a number of states to take action.

Governor Kate Brown announced on Tuesday that she would reinstate the state’s indoor mask mandate for everyone, regardless of immunization status. Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, made the same decision last week as hospitals filled up. Both governors are Democrats.

But elsewhere, elected officials take a different approach.

In Florida, intensive care units are so overwhelmed that the federal government this week shipped hundreds of ventilators from its stockpile to the state, according to a Department of Health and Human Services official. Nonetheless, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has not altered the lax style towards the coronavirus he has adopted since the start of the pandemic.

While many schools are expected to start at full capacity in Florida this week, DeSantis has threatened withholding funds from principals who have defied its ban on mask warrants – a move denounced by public health experts.

“We are making matters worse by taking a stand against mitigation measures that would have allowed us to demonstrate some sense of normal,” said Mercedes Carnethon, vice president of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Without masks in Florida schools, she said, the chances of the coronavirus spreading in classrooms are much higher, especially since the Covid-19 vaccine is still only available to children. ages 12 and over. She predicted that DeSantis’ plan would result in inevitable classroom closures that the masks could have prevented.

“I am really baffled by its justification for banning masks in schools,” Carnethon added. “Is it a strong sense of denial that we are in the midst of a dangerous pandemic? It’s like dealing with a 2 year old who puts his hands over his eyes while playing hide and seek. They think that because they can’t see you, you can’t see them.

How to avoid the worst case

Experts said they predict this wave of Covid-19 cases will get worse before it gets better. The same goes for everything that happened with the outbreak, they said – such as the return of long lines at mass testing sites in places like Massachusetts, the number of beds opened in units. ICUs shrinking to single digits in places like Arkansas and hard-hit states like Texas are begging travel nurses to help cope with rising hospitalizations there.

But, they said, if everyone who is eligible for the vaccine does, it will help considerably.

“It’s just painful to see someone refuse to get something that would save their life,” Goodwin Veenema said.

In the worst case, if already stretched healthcare systems continue to fill up with patients, “we may have to start talking about Zoom happy hours with our friends and cancel Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Michael LeVasseur, assistant professor. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University.

He urged people to be cautious to avoid revisiting this point.

“Do you really need to go to your sister’s aunt’s cat birthday party?” Said LeVasseur. “Wear a mask. Stay home if you are sick or have been exposed. All we said, just copy and paste.