Federal officials are expressing concern that the decline in national daily coronavirus cases is beginning to slow, as one of the variants, coming from the UK, is increasing across the country.
They warned against states loosening COVID-19 restrictions, saying the country remains in a precarious spot that could fall into a fourth wave before more people are vaccinated.
“We are in that very precarious position that we were in before the sudden increase – where anything that could disturb us and give us another increase,” Fauci told reporters at a news conference on Friday. “We don’t want to be people always looking at the dark side of things, but you want to be realistic. So, we have to look carefully at what happens next week or so with these numbers before you start to understand the need to relax under certain restrictions. “
“We couldn’t say it in stronger terms: we think it’s a mistake to take your foot off the gas too early, especially when we’re accelerating our vaccination efforts now,” said Andy Slavitt, senior consultant at the White House COVID -19 Response Team.
Since the beginning of January, daily cases of coronavirus and COVID-19 hospitalizations have been falling, but “the latest data suggest that these falls may be stopping, potentially stabilizing at an even very high number,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. “We at CDC consider this to be a very worrying change in trajectory.”
The worrying numbers came on the same day that the Food and Drug Administration said it would work quickly to issue an emergency use permit for a third vaccine for COVID-19, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
The country is now reporting an average of about 66,350 new coronaviruses daily per day in the past week, Walensky said on Friday. This is higher than the comparable number, 64,000 new cases per day, released on Wednesday.
The average daily number of COVID-19-related deaths – about 2,000 per day – is slightly higher than a few days ago.
“We are watching this worrying data closely to see where it will go in the next few days. But it is important to remember where we are in the pandemic: things are tenuous. Now is not the time to relax restrictions, ”said Walensky. “Cases, hospital admissions and deaths remain very high, and the recent change in the pandemic must be taken very seriously.”
The recent increase in cases comes at a time when federal authorities express alarm about the continued increase in variants across the country. The increase in cases may be a result of the spread of transmission of a variant first identified in Britain, B.1.1.7, which is believed to be 50% more transmissible than the conventional strain of the virus, said Walensky.
The UK variant now accounts for about 10% of coronavirus cases across the country, said Walensky, up from 1% to 4% a few weeks ago. Walensky also expressed concern about an emerging variant in New York, B.1.526, and the California variant, B.1.427 / B.1.429, “which also seem to spread more easily and are contributing to a large fraction of current infections in these areas, adding urgency to the situation. “
“The virus did not wipe us out. We cannot be comfortable or give in to the false sense of security that the worst of the pandemic is over. Not now, not when mass vaccination is so close, ”said Walensky. “I know that people are tired. They want to return to normal life, but we are not there yet. Give us time. We need to bring more vaccines into our communities and get more people to be vaccinated. “
Walensky and other federal officials have repeatedly warned state and local governments against easing COVID-19 restrictions too quickly. Walensky had previously said that it was too early for states like Iowa and Montana to suspend state requests for masks. New York City began allowing meals at indoor restaurants at 25% capacity on February 12, and Massachusetts on Monday will increase its restaurant capacity limits and allow concert halls and theaters to reopen at 50% capacity, with no more than 500 people inside.
“Given the trends we have seen in the past few days, I would say that we cannot be in a place where we are lifting restrictions now,” said Walensky.
In California, five counties – San Mateo and Marin counties in the bay area; Yolo County west of Sacramento; and the northernmost Shasta and Humboldt counties – have been authorized by state officials to reopen covered restaurants and gyms for limited capacity this week. Seven counties may qualify for this next week: Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, El Dorado, Napa, Lassen and Modoc.
One of the variants that concerns scientists the most is the strain first identified in South Africa, B.1.351, in which the effect of vaccination is significantly diminished, but not obliterated. Fauci said the modern pharmaceutical company this week started a clinical trial to test a booster injection specifically designed to be effective against the South African variant.
Another way to deal with other versions, such as the New York and California variants, said Fauci, could be to simply give a second booster injection of existing vaccines, which would generate an even more robust immune response that would help deal with problems created by the variants.
Fauci said the increase in variants is yet another reason to be vaccinated with the currently available vaccines as soon as possible, when you are eligible. Even among the most worrying variants, vaccines still offer decent protection.
“Get vaccinated. The vaccine that is available to you, get that vaccine. It is important to vaccinate as many people as quickly and quickly as possible, ”said Fauci.
Los Angeles County officials have begun to detect a slowdown in the decline in daily coronavirus cases, said Dr. Paul Simon, director of sciences at the Department of Public Health.
On a weekly basis, LA County averaged about 1,871 coronavirus cases per day for the past seven days, down 16% from the previous week’s comparable number, which was 2,236 cases per day. That was a smaller drop than the week after week drop, in which the average daily cases fell 35%, according to a Times analysis.
A rate of 1,500 to 2,000 new cases of coronavirus per day still “indicates a very significant level of continuous spread of the virus by the community,” said Simon.
LA County on Monday will open vaccines for education and daycare workers; food and agriculture workers; and law enforcement workers and other emergency services who were not previously eligible. Together, these groups comprise more than 1 million adults in LA County.
The county expects 269,000 doses of vaccines to be distributed among vaccination sites in LA County next week, up from 211,000 doses that were distributed this week. Of the 269,000 doses, 103,000 will be reserved for the first doses.
“Therefore, it will take considerable time to vaccinate these groups, unless the vaccine supply increases significantly,” said Simon. “We ask the public for patience as we work on this process as quickly as possible.”
People seeking vaccines in these sectors will need to provide proof that they live or work in LA County and proof that they work in an eligible sector and some type of photo ID – it does not need to be issued by the government, officials said.
LA County officials released a new map on Friday showing disparities in vaccination rates by city and community among seniors aged 65 and over. Seniors living in South LA, southeastern LA County and Antelope Valley had the lowest vaccination rates for the elderly, while the wealthiest areas had the highest inoculation rates.
For example, Simon said, more than 70% of the elderly in Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach and Calabasas received at least one dose of the vaccine on February 20, while less than 35% of the elderly in Compton, Cudahy, Lancaster and Palmdale received it. .
South LA and Antelope Valley had the lowest vaccination rates among the elderly, while the wealthiest areas of LA County had the highest inoculation rates.
(Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
“We are implementing a series of measures to increase access to vaccination services among the elderly and others in poor communities,” said Simon.
California has already administered 8.2 million doses of vaccines, Governor Gavin Newsom said at a news conference in Fresno on Friday, with the state receiving an average of 1.4 million doses per week. Soon, the goal will be to administer 2.7 million weekly doses and, eventually, 4 million weekly doses.
This week, California received 1.46 million doses; next week, 1.58 million doses are expected, and the following week, 1.63 million doses, Newsom said. The governor offered an optimistic outlook for the coming weeks, considering how dire the situation in California was two months ago, when the state was ordering thousands of body bags. He also thanked California for adhering to the rules for wearing masks, practicing physical distance and holding social gatherings, which saved many lives.
Newsom on Friday sought to pay more attention to the state’s efforts to increase vaccination in the Central Valley, including sending 34,000 additional doses to inoculate food and farm workers. Low-income workers in the Central Valley were particularly affected by the pandemic.
“Every day, we are doing better – a little better – in terms of heritage and we recognize that we have a long way to go, much more work to do to be truly accountable for a higher level of performance, especially for our Latin community and our African American community, ”said Newsom.