Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that she is “really concerned” about some states revoking public health measures designed to contain the coronavirus pandemic, as cases in the United States appear to be stabilizing. in a “very high number”.
The declines in Covid-19 cases seen since the beginning of January now appear to be halting at around 70,000 new cases per day, said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a press conference at the White House. “With these statistics, I am really concerned that more states are revoking the exact public health measures that we recommend to protect the people of Covid-19.”
“Seventy thousand cases a day looks good compared to where we were just a few months ago,” she said. “Please listen to me clearly: in this level of cases with the spread of variants, we can completely lose the ground conquered with so much effort.”
The US is registering at least 67,300 new Covid-19 cases per day, based on an average of seven days calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. The US peaked at about 250,000 cases a day in early January, after the winter break.
US health officials, including Walensky and the White House chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, have warned in recent weeks that the increase in more contagious variants could reverse the current trajectory of falling infections in the US and delay the country’s recovery. of the pandemic.
As of Sunday, the CDC had identified 2,400 cases of variant B.1.1.7, identified for the first time in the United Kingdom. The agency identified 53 cases of strain B.1.351 from South Africa, as well as 10 cases of P.1, the variant first identified in Brazil.
Fauci said on Monday that U.S. health officials are also closely monitoring another variant in New York that carries mutations that help it escape the body’s natural immune response.
Authorities say that viruses cannot mutate if they cannot infect hosts and replicate. They are also pressing Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible before potentially new and even more dangerous variants continue to establish themselves.
Walensky said on Monday that the vaccines will help the United States get out of the pandemic, announcing that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the third vaccine to be approved for distribution. in the USA and the only vaccine that requires only one dose. Walensky approved the vaccine on Sunday.
The J&J vaccine is “a much-needed addition to our toolbox,” she said, adding that the authorization will make it possible for more people to be vaccinated.