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As Thanksgiving week draws to a close, more experts are warning that the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to worsen in the weeks to come before a possible vaccine begins to offer some relief.
More than 205,000 new cases were reported on Friday – which likely includes both Thursday and Friday reports in some cases, as at least 20 states did not report Covid-19 numbers as of Thanksgiving. As of Saturday afternoon, more than 127,000 new cases and 1,039 deaths had been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has now reported more than 100,000 infections every day for 26 consecutive days. The daily average for the week through Friday was over 166,000, almost 2.5 times higher than the peak summer numbers in July.
The number of Covid-19 patients in US hospitals is just off record highs: more than 89,800 on Friday, just a few hundred less than the peak set a day earlier, according to COVID follow-up project.
And daily deaths from Covid-19 in the United States have increased. The daily seven-day average was 1,477 on Friday. But more than 2,100 deaths have been reported each of the two days leading up to Thanksgiving, the first time that level has been crossed on consecutive days since the end of April.
And while there is more good news on the vaccine front, for now Americans need to ‘curl up’ and prepare for a harsh winter ahead, says emergency physician Dr Leana Wen and visiting professor at the Milken Institute, George Washington University. School of Public Health.
“We cannot let our guard down,” she told CNN on Friday night. “Vaccines will make a big difference in the spring and summer; they won’t make any difference at this time.
Based on current Covid-19 figures in the United States, the country is far from around the corner, she said.
“If anything, we are turning the corner into a calamity,” Wen said. “We will soon pass well over 2,000 deaths, maybe 3,000, 4,000 deaths every day here in the United States.”
This projection was echoed by other experts, including Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine at George Washington University, who predicted Wednesday that the daily death toll in the country would likely double in 10 days and would soon see “close” of 4,000 deaths per day ”.
You Asked, We Answer: Your Questions About Covid-19
The United States has so far recorded more than 4 million official cases of the coronavirus in November, representing about 30% of the country’s pandemic total of 13.2 million official cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Researchers have warned that the total is likely a considerable undercoverage, in part because of the limited availability of tests, especially at the onset of the pandemic.
A modeling study released this week by CDC researchers suggests that about one in eight coronavirus infections in the United States has been recognized and reported through the end of September. That would mean that 53 million people in the United States could have been infected from February to September.
A busy travel weekend planned
The Thanksgiving trips and gatherings that took place last week will likely only push cases on the rise, experts said.
Reiner has previously described the holidays as “potentially the mother of all mass-market events,” with Americans departing from airports across the country and possibly carrying the virus with them, often unknowingly.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to avoid traveling on Thanksgiving, but millions have flown since that warning. Travel industry groups expect Sunday – with everyone returning from their vacation destinations – to be the busiest travel day since the start of the pandemic.
To prevent further spread of the virus, anyone who travels and congregates indoors with people outside their homes should be quarantined, Wen said.
“This is because these gatherings, especially indoor gatherings with many people who do not wear masks for extended periods of time, are at the highest risk of transmitting the coronavirus,” she said on Friday. “Quarantine for at least seven days, then get tested.”
“If you fail to pass a test because the tests are still so limited, you have to quarantine yourself for 14 days. And I mean full quarantine, don’t go to work, don’t go to school, stay safe.
Los Angeles County Under Lockdown Order
More local and state leaders have responded to the increase in cases by announcing tougher restrictions. This includes Los Angeles County, which announced a new stay-at-home order on Friday that bans all public and private gatherings with people outside of a single household.
“Residents are urged to stay at home as much as possible and always wear a face covering their nose and mouth when outside their homes and around others,” the public health department said. county in a press release.
The order will go into effect Monday through December 20, the statement said. The ban does not apply to “church services and demonstrations, which are constitutionally protected rights,” the department said.
Essential retail businesses will be capped at 35% occupancy, while the occupancy limit for non-essential retail operations, personal care services and libraries will be 20%, the county said.
“We know that we are asking a lot from so many people who have sacrificed themselves for months, and we hope LA County residents continue to follow public health safety measures which we know can slow the spread,” said Barbara Ferrer, county manager. public health service.
“Acting with collective urgency now is essential if we are to stop this surge. Please stay home as much as possible and do not get together with other people who are not in your household for the next three weeks, ”added Ferrer.
During an online briefing on Saturday, Ferrer said 1,951 people had been hospitalized for Covid-19 in LA County, 25% of them in intensive care.
“We have a capacity of about 75% for hospital beds. Obviously, [we] have seen a pretty dramatic increase, over 100% I think in two weeks, ”she said. “The last time the county saw numbers this high in our hospitals was in August.”
Ferrer warned that there had also been an increase in the number of healthcare workers infected with coronavirus, contributing to stress on the workforce.
“You can have beds, but the beds all have to be staffed,” she says.
Meanwhile, the two-week New Mexico statewide “reset” order will change to a county-by-county reopening framework next week, the governor’s office said on Friday.
This will allow “counties, businesses and nonprofits within their borders to operate with fewer restrictions as they slow the spread of the virus and reduce test positivity rates,” Governor Michelle said. Lujan Grisham.
Counties where the virus is most prevalent, the governor’s office said, will operate under more restrictions.
First mass air shipment of vaccine
And while a vaccine has yet to be given the green light, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it had supported the “first mass air shipment” of a Covid-19 vaccine.
“Due to the historic pace of vaccine development through Operation Warp Speed and careful logistical planning, the FAA is today supporting the first mass aerial shipment of a vaccine,” the FAA said in a statement.
The agency said it had set up a Covid-19 vaccine air transport team last month to ensure “safe, rapid and efficient transport of vaccines.”
He says he’s working with manufacturers, airlines and airports to provide advice on regulations to safely transport large amounts of dry ice in air cargo.
Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that they had submitted emergency use authorization to the United States Food and Drug Administration for their Covid-19 vaccine candidate. U.S. officials have previously expressed concerns about the handling of the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at extremely cold temperatures.
Meanwhile, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has called for an emergency meeting on Tuesday, where they will vote on which groups of people they recommend to receive a Covid-19 vaccine first, once that this will be authorized.
“This is a significant step forward in the development and progression towards vaccine availability,” Rick Bright, member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus advisory board said Friday.
The committee usually meets after a vaccine is authorized to make its recommendations.
“What we’re seeing now is that the CDC is moving forward and is very proactive and having some of these early discussions before this vaccine is even finished being cleared by the FDA, so they’ll be ready for that data when it does. it’s about them. Bright said.
Board member Dr. Celine Gounder told CNN that “the people who do things that we really can’t do without” should be among the first to get vaccinated.
“Doctors, nurses who treat patients in the hospital, including coronavirus patients, should be among the first to receive the vaccine,” Gounder told CNN’s Boris Sanchez on Saturday. “Beyond that, there are other front-line workers, essential workers, whether they are people who work in food and meat processing, people who are at the cash desk. the grocery store.
People at higher risk of serious illness from the coronavirus should also be considered for early vaccination, she said.
Gounder said vaccinations could start before 2021, which is in line with projections made by other health experts.
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