In the past week, the daily number of cases and deaths, on average, has increased by about 2% compared to the previous week, said CDC director Rochelle Walensky, during a press conference at the White House, to about 67,000 cases per day and 2,000 American lives lost to the virus each day. It is almost a third of what the US was seeing during the peak of the holiday, but it is still not better than what the US saw during the peak of summer.
“With these new statistics, I am really concerned about reports that more states are reversing the exact public health measures that we recommend to protect people from COVID-19,” said Walensky. “I understand the temptation to do that – 70,000 cases a day looks good compared to where we were just a few months ago – but we can’t settle for 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 deaths daily.”
This leveling occurs when states across the country, led by Democrats and Republicans, eased restrictions, ranging from strict measures implemented during the increase, such as requests to stay at home in California or closing restaurants in New York, to reverting to more flexible rules since the beginning of the pandemic, as in Montana and Iowa, where governors have suspended masquerade mandates and lifted restrictions on business.
Arkansas and Texas are also considering revoking their masking mandates in the coming weeks.
Walensky, former head of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, made an appeal addressed to all states on Monday: “Please listen to me clearly. In this level of cases with spreading variants, we can completely lose ground. hard won that we have won, “she said.
“These variants are a very real threat to our people and to our progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know could prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close,” she said. .
Walensky urged people to continue to reduce cases, as the United States has been doing mainly since the beginning of January – although certain areas of the country, such as Texas and Florida, have seen increases in recent weeks.
There is no single reason why cases have stabilized, but infectious disease epidemiologist and ABC News contributor John Brownstein said it could be a combination of factors, including relaxed mitigation efforts or complacency, but also a drop in testing. which allows people to spread without knowing the virus and perhaps the cold wave in southern states like Texas, which has led people to gather indoors.
Brownstein also pointed to the increased prevalence of variant B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom and is about 50% more transmissible.
“Clearly, there is a lot of enthusiasm to get back to normal and I think we should try to do everything we can,” said Brownstein. “But certain activities that we know are conducive to transmission, we need to postpone it a little longer.”
Walensky, chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health experts have been warning for weeks that slowing mitigation before cases reach a more controllable level could lead to the same increase that the U.S. saw after a patchwork of reopens, mainly in the south, it erased much of the progress of the quasi-national strike in March and April.
“We have the ability to prevent a potential fourth increase in cases in this country. Please remain firm in your belief, continue to wear your tight-fitting mask and take the other public health prevention actions that we know will work,” said Walensky.
Before news of the stagnant statistics, most of the United States was enjoying a steep downward trajectory that coincided with the approval of a third coronavirus vaccine, developed by Johnson & Johnson and approved by the FDA over the weekend.
On Monday, 3.9 million doses of the newest vaccine were sent, which requires only one dose compared to the double doses required by the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Sixteen million more doses will be available by the end of March, although the White House has prepared states for uneven distribution in the first few weeks, when the company starts production.
And as of Monday, 50 million Americans have received at least one dose of the other available vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, according to the White House.
All three vaccines are safe and effective against the virus and its variants, including variant B.1.1.7, which was originally discovered in the United Kingdom. The variant is about 50% more transmissible and scientists expect it to be the dominant strain in the U.S. in mid-March, making the race to vaccinate most Americans more urgent.
The White House urged Americans to get all the vaccines available when their turn comes.
“All three vaccines have been shown to be safe and highly effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations and death from COVID-19 after full immunity,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chairman of the White House health equality task force. .
“And if I could leave a message for people, this is it – get vaccinated. With the first vaccine available to you. Protect yourself, your family and your community from COVID-19, ”she said.