United States could ‘see 100,000 more dead by inauguration day’, doctor says

Brown University School of Public Health Dean Dr Ashish Jha warned that the United States could “see 100,000 more deaths by inauguration day” as the death toll by coronavirus is climbing and public health professionals are sounding the alarm.

“Once in the spring, we could easily be 450,000 or even 500,000 dead,” Jha said in an interview Friday night on “The News with Shepard Smith.” “It’s all up to us, if we do smart things we could avoid that. If we don’t, we could easily get into the total of 400,000 to 500,000 dead, which is astronomical.”

The United States on Thursday reported a record 187,000 new coronavirus cases and 2015 deaths, the most since May, as the country faces severe epidemics as the holiday season approaches, according to data from the United States. Johns Hopkins University. At the peak of the second wave in the third week of July, an average of 863 people died per day. In the third week of November, however, cases continue to rise and an average of 1,335 people die on average per day, according to JHU data.

The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) – the percentage of all Covid-positive people in America who ultimately die from the coronavirus – worries healthcare professionals. As of July 1, the CFR has stood at 1.4%, but if the CFR remains constant at the huge numbers of cases the country is currently seeing, the United States could see 2,500 deaths per day in the near future, according to CNBC analysis data from Johns Hopkins. .

“Overcrowding in hospitals leads to higher death rates,” Jha said. “The horrific number of deaths that we are seeing now are going to worsen significantly in the weeks to come, and sadly even in the months to come.”

In Connecticut, the numbers are growing at a rapid rate. 96% of the state’s population is now under a Coved “Red Alert”. This is the highest possible warning level in the state’s color-coded Covid system. The state is experiencing a six-month peak in Covid hospitalizations, and has recorded an average of 1,926 cases per day over the past week, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) told host Shepard Smith he “feels pretty good” about the hospital capacity of his state, but worries about the welfare of workers of health in these hospitals.

“What worries me are the nurses and the doctors, I think that will be the choke point for us,” Lamont said. “This is where I have to make sure we have a lot of support to deal with the stress.”

Regarding New York, Lamont said he did not agree with closing schools and keeping restaurants open and said “this is the wrong way to go.” Covid among Connecticut schoolchildren is skyrocketing. This week, cases among K-12 students jumped more than 70% from last week. Governor Lamont fought to keep schools open for in-person learning and told Smith he was not rethinking.

“You’re much more likely to get infected outside of school – blended, distance, or virtual learning – than you are in the classroom,” Lamont said. “Whatever I do, I’m going to fight for these kids to have that experience in the classroom, but I’m going to take it one week at a time.”

Lamont added that he was working to increase testing capacity amid long line hours in his state. Jha stressed the importance of the next two months in slowing infections for future success.

“We can make a huge difference,” Jha said. “We can make it easier to get the vaccine, we can save a lot of lives, and we can keep many hospitals from being overwhelmed.”