CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield testifies at a First Chamber Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Commission hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC
Kevin Dietsch | Reuters
Deaths attributed to the coronavirus are likely to start declining next week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Center Dr. Robert Redfield said Thursday.
Daily new cases of the coronavirus have been on a steady decline since late July, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Deaths that occur in new cases when people fall ill, become hospitalized and die have remained stubbornly high, at roughly 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths per day, on average, according to a CNBC analysis of Hopkins data .
Redfield added that he would bring the number of daily new deaths below 250, a figure where the country came close on one day in early July.
“You and I will see the cases continue to decline. And then this week and next week you hope the death toll really starts to fall again.” Redfield said in an interview with Dr. Howard Bauchner of the Journal of the American Medical Association. “I think we are starting to see a decline in mortality in the country next week as we continue to gain control over these cases.”
Redfield added that the U.S. is “starting to turn the tide on what I call the southern outbreak in the nation.” He said Arizona, Texas and other states that were hit hard by the virus during the summer have implemented appropriate public health guidelines, encouraged face covering and closed indoor bars and restaurants.
However, he added that new daily cases still remain high and he would like to bring that number below 10,000 new cases per day. He said he would like to get to the point where the percentage of all tests that return positive across the country every day is below 3%. More than 6% of all tests currently return positive, based on an average of seven days, assistant secretary for health adv. Brett Giroir told reporters earlier this week.
Even if some states take steps to bring the virus under control, Redfield said others are still concerned about numbers, particularly in “Central America,” such as Nebraska and Oklahoma.
“We’re starting to see some of the cases now fall into the red zone areas, but if you look at the states that are in what we call the yellow zone, between 5% and 10%, they do not fall, that Central America is stuck at the moment, “he said. “This is why it is so important for Central America to recognize the mitigation steps we are talking about, about masks, about social distance, hand washing, closing bars, being smart about crowds.”
He said cases are not growing substantially in the region, but the fact that cases appear to be plateauing may be cause for concern, especially as the country enters the colder months of the year and the seasonal influxes. Redfield has warned several times that the collision of a major flu outbreak with the Covid-19 pandemic could overwhelm hospitals and cause deaths. He urged Americans to get the flu vaccine this year as soon as it is available to limit the risk of an overwhelming flu season.
“We don’t have to have a third wave in the heartland at the moment,” he said. “We need to avoid that especially when we get to the fall.”
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