As U.S. Reaches 250,000 Deaths From COVID-19, A Long Winter Is Coming
Enlarge this image
A sign on a San Francisco bus advises that passengers are required to wear masks. Health officials have renewed pleas for Americans to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus as the death toll passes 250,000.
Jeff Chiu/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jeff Chiu/AP
In the past week, 36 states and one territory set records for daily new confirmed cases, and 12 states saw a day with the highest number of new deaths.
The virus is currently hitting the middle of the country especially hard, with the highest number of new cases per capita in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Montana. More than 76,000 people are currently hospitalized with the virus, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Shots — Health News
Coronavirus Is Surging: How Severe Is Your State’s Outbreak?
Shots — Health News
America’s 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths: Small Cities And Towns Bear A Growing Share
With cases spiking, more deaths will follow — but advances in medicine in recent months have improved the odds of surviving COVID-19.
The infection fatality rate is declining by about 30%, says Ali Mokdad, professor and epidemiologist with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the chief strategy officer for Population Health at the University of Washington.
That rate measures the fatality of those who are infected, not only those who are diagnosed, by using antibody testing data to understand the prevalence of the virus at a large scale.
And the infection fatality rate is falling in all age groups, including among the elderly. Doctors and nurses now have more experience dealing with COVID-19 and anticipating its complications, and there have been advances in treatment and triage, Mokdad says.
Enlarge this image
Residents line up in their cars Tuesday at a coronavirus test center on the grounds of Miller Park in Milwaukee.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Enlarge this image
Dr. Joseph Varon puts on his face shield before entering the COVID-19 intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center on Monday in Houston. Texas has recorded more than 1.1 million cases of the virus, with more than 20,000 deaths.
Go Nakamura/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Go Nakamura/Getty Images
The Coronavirus Crisis
Fauci: Vaccine Results Are ‘Important Advance,’ But Virus Precautions Are Still Vital
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s foremost infectious disease expert, told NPR this week that hopefully by the end of the year, the two companies will have enough doses available for 20 million people. Health care workers are expected to receive the vaccine first.
Mokdad calls the vaccine progress welcome, life-changing news — but he warns that any vaccines won’t come in time to help us this winter. «All that we have between now and March 1 is to wear a mask, watch our distance and wash our hands, he says.
Rivers concurs: «We are still going to be facing the holidays. We’re still going to be facing the winter months using the nonpharmaceutical interventions: the hand-washing, the masks, the closures that we have all been using to slow transmission for the last number of months.
And she notes that the first emergency use authorization for the vaccines will likely not apply to children as more data need to be collected to ensure any vaccines are safe and effective for them as well.
Enlarge this image
Wearing a mask and face shield, teacher Elizabeth DeSantis helps a first-grader during reading class in September at Stark Elementary School in Stamford, Conn.
John Moore/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
John Moore/Getty Images
Consider This from NPR
Pandemic Fatigue Q&A: Mental Health, Processing The News, And Staying Occupied
Adding to the problem is pandemic fatigue: As the pandemic stretches on, people get tired of being vigilant about masks and social distancing and not gathering with others indoors. Many people have suffered economic pain from the virus and the restrictions that have followed, and are eager for their lives to return to normal.
But the times are not normal.
«Unfortunately, because we are in such a bad spot right now, it’s more important now than ever that we are vigilant about taking these protective measures, Rivers says.
Enlarge this image
A pedestrian walks past posters showing a health care worker wearing a mask in Los Angeles as California became the second state to surpass 1 million coronavirus infections last week.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
A pedestrian walks past posters showing a health care worker wearing a mask in Los Angeles as California became the second state to surpass 1 million coronavirus infections last week.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
«Thanksgiving could be a superspreader event
Earlier case upticks in some places followed holiday weekends such as Memorial Day, Mother’s Day and July Fourth — and those all took place in warmer months.
«Now we are concerned that potentially Thanksgiving could be a superspreader event, Mokdad says. Not only is Thanksgiving generally celebrated by bringing family and friends together, often over long distances, but the main event is a meal. It’s hard to wear a mask while you’re eating.
Public health officials are pleading with Americans not to celebrate Thanksgiving the way they usually do but instead use this occasion to invent new traditions. One idea is to drop off food contactlessly to another household and then share the meal over video.
Video meeting platform Zoom announced it will lift the 40-minute limit for its free accounts on Thanksgiving, to make it easier for loved ones to gather at a distance.
We can always hold Thanksgiving dinners on a future date, Mokdad, «but we can never get our loved ones back if they die because we didn’t pay attention. So delay it, cancel it, isolate yourself. Make sure you behave extremely well before you join your family.
NPR’s Audrey Carlsen contributed to this report.
- COVID-19
Обсудим?
Смотрите также:
