Covid-19 rates are trending in the wrong direction in several states, including Michigan, which has been reporting an increase in new infections in the past month, while other states are seeing a plateau of new cases, warning of a possible increase.
Health experts say it is too early to celebrate the victory over the coronavirus pandemic, despite increased access to the vaccine and reopenings across the country.
“There are some states that are retreating now, I believe more prematurely than they should, in public health measures,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on NBC’s “TODAY” program. “The very sharp decline we had, which was really good news, has now stabilized at around … 55,000 new cases a day.”
Fauci said “this is too high to declare victory”.
States where new cases have stabilized, or have stopped decreasing, include Colorado and Massachusetts.
On Friday, Michigan public health officials added 3,730 new confirmed cases and 15 deaths, bringing the state’s total to 622,151 known infections and 15,850 deaths. The number of new cases marks the biggest daily increase for the state since January, when almost all states recorded a record of hospitalizations and deaths from the virus.
Across the country, more than 29 million people were infected with Covid-19 and at least 541,000 died, according to the NBC News count.
Friday’s announcement came when the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services expanded capacity in outdoor stadiums and arenas, allowing up to 20 percent of capacity in locations with established safety protocols. Michigan also increased weekly tests for young athletes between 13 and 19 years of age to participate in sports safely.
“The pandemic has been difficult for all of us, but by staying focused on acting quickly, following science and listening to experts, we can save lives and help our economy recover more quickly,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a statement. “Today’s action is an important step towards normality, but there is still more work to be done”.
In the past four weeks, confirmed cases of Covid-19 have shown an upward trend in much of the state. According to hospitalization data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, about 74% of Michigan hospital beds are currently in use and 72% of beds in intensive care units are occupied.
The percentage of positive tests has also increased in the past four weeks and is now at 6.2 percent, public health officials said during a news conference on Friday.
“We are back where we were,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Wayne State University. “This is our third wave. It is a cause for concern for all those places where people have let their guard down. “
On Thursday, Fauci said that “history has shown” that, after a plateau in new cases, the potential for a big increase appears, which is what happened recently in Europe.
Italy is closing again, while France is closing region by region and Germany is weighing another round of blockades. The European Union is also struggling with the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine, as several countries have stopped distributing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
In the United States, “it will really be a race against the vaccine and a potential increase,” said Fauci. “The good part of that equation is that every day we receive between 2 and 3 million people vaccinated in this country.”
Fauci also warned that some states eased their restrictions too soon, raising national concerns that another increase may be coming. Among the states that relaxed the restrictions and are now seeing an increase in new cases is Michigan, which is experiencing a 30% increase in new infections in the past week. Michigan now has the fifth highest rate of Covid-19 cases in the country, health officials said.
The numbers are especially alarming, as the number of people tested for Covid-19 has also stagnated, according to Sarah Lyon-Callo, director of the Bureau of Epidemiology and Population Health of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“We are seeing a very different picture from a few weeks ago,” Lyon-Callo said during a weekly press conference.
She added that “Michigan definitely stands out in terms of an increase in our hospitalizations and case rates” compared to other Midwestern states.
Michigan had some of the country’s toughest restrictions in place for much of the pandemic, but began changing those mandates in January, after seeing a reduction in cases over the winter. Restrictions were eased further in early March, including the reopening of schools and restaurants.
Whitmer, who was the target of attacks by far-right groups last year, defended his decision to relax Covid-19 security regulations in an interview with Detroit’s public radio station WDET.
“We knew that by putting restaurants online again for indoor meals, we would see a greater likelihood of spread, despite all the efforts of many of our restaurant owners,” she said. “This is, of course, the case. We know that the re-engagement of sports would create the possibility of further dissemination; we saw some things happen too. “