As the United States approaches 400,000 deaths from coronavirus, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control said that in mid-February officials expect the death toll to be impressive.
“In mid-February, we expect half a million deaths in this country,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The sad news comes while Los Angeles is battling a most contagious variant of the virus. California leads the world in coronavirus cases, with more 3 million infected residents.
UCLA epidemiologist Dr. Anne Rimoin told CBS News that she “certainly” suspects that there are more active variants in the population. She likened the search for variants to “lighting a flashlight in the dark,” adding, “You’ll see something if you start looking and we just weren’t looking.”
PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images
But across the country, the chaotic vaccine launch continues, leading to more than a few frayed nerves in Florida.
“You can’t make an appointment, you can’t buy an appointment. So what are we going to do?” said Elizabeth Johnson, a Palm Beach resident.
The Florida health department said more than 40,000 are already late for the second dose, while the country is preparing for the worst.
The darkest weeks have reached southern California. The data shows the dramatic increase in COVID-19 deaths in LA County, where one person dies every six minutes.
The coroner has a accumulation of bodies, so many that LA County has just relaxed the air quality rules to allow more cremations.
And yet, as bad as things may seem, there is at least an edifying update.
CBS News met Dennis Zayas and his wife Jessica shortly before Christmas, after a diagnosis of COVID-19 led to a double lung transplant. He told CBS News that his recovery was a daily struggle and that he almost had to learn to walk again.
Now, he’s not just walking, he’s working out – and over the weekend, he took his first dose of Modern Vaccine.
CBS News confirmed on Monday that President Trump will lift travel restrictions from Europe and Brazil, where the virus is increasing, before stepping down. The restrictions would be lifted on January 26 – but President-elect Biden’s team said on Monday that it would block the changes.