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“Large gatherings of students on campus, in classrooms and restaurants, can turn schools into a hotbed for outbreaks. If strong protective measures are not implemented, there will be high risks of local outbreaks,” says Zhang Zuofeng.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 – Top experts have warned that COVID-19 cases may increase in the fall and winter in the United States, as the pandemic has caused more than 200,000 deaths as of Tuesday.
Months after the pandemic, the United States has currently recorded more than 6.88 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 200,500 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University real-time count.
Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to a paucity of evidence, many unreported cases, and other data issues.
Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, warned that the number of cases may increase in the fall and winter. “But we hope that with the appropriate measures and perhaps a vaccine, the increase will be less than we fear,” he told Xinhua.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first case of COVID-19 in the United States on January 21. Four months later, on May 27, the death toll in the US reached 100,000.
The new coronavirus has now killed nearly twice as many Americans as the 116,516 who died in World War I, the third-deadliest conflict in the nation’s history, according to a report by ABC News.
Recently, US campuses have become the new front in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic as more students return to school.
As of Sept. 14, The New York Times tallied more than 88,000 cases and 60 deaths at 1,190 campuses across the country.
The back-to-school season has brought new infections in colleges and universities across the country. COVID-19 cases in students and children will continue to rise, Perlman acknowledged.
To curb the spread of the virus, schools have made stricter control efforts. Students who violated the rules faced serious consequences.
At Purdue University, three dozen students were suspended for attending an off-campus party and for violating the school’s social distancing rules.
“Large gatherings of students on campus, in classrooms and restaurants, can turn schools into a hotbed for outbreaks. If strong protection measures are not implemented, there will be a high risk of local outbreaks,” said Zhang Zuofeng, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research with the school of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles, he told Xinhua.
Experts and health officials have called on the public to get record numbers of flu shots this fall to avoid a dreaded scenario: the collision of the flu with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, experts worry that flu-related illnesses could overwhelm hospitals and laboratories that test for both respiratory illnesses.
“This fall and winter could be one of the most difficult public health times we have, with both at the same time,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a recent interview on the JAMA network.
Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, told the media that the predominant flu strain this season could be H3N2, the most feared strain.
It is associated with more complications, hospitalizations and deaths, especially among children, people 65 and older, and people with certain chronic conditions, he said.
The country has been ramping up testing and accelerating research for vaccines and therapies to combat COVID-19.
The CDC has updated the guidelines for testing asymptomatic people and emphasizes that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested for the coronavirus.
Redfield said last week that it will be late in the second or third quarter of 2021 before a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to the American public.
According to Redfield, the vaccine would initially be available sometime between November and December, but “a very limited supply and will have to be prioritized.”
