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This time, the seven-day average of daily new cases hit an all-time high of 68,767 on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The previous record of 67,293 was set on July 22.
“Unfortunately, I think the ‘new record’ statement will be repeated over and over again in the coming days and weeks,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
“I hope those numbers continue to rise. Hospitalizations will continue to increase.”
The abysmal week was marked by the two worst days of new daily cases reported since the pandemic began. More than 83,000 new cases were reported on both Friday and Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins.
To be clear: This increase reflects a flood of new infections, not just an increase in testing, contrary to what skeptics claim.
“Do you know why we have cases? Because we test so much,” President Donald Trump said at a rally Saturday in North Carolina. “And in many ways, it’s good. And in many ways, it’s silly.”
But the seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases has soared 23% last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The seven-day average of new tests performed has risen just 2.87% over the past week, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
States will receive 36.7 million rapid tests
The federal government is shipping 36.7 million rapid tests for Covid-19, and states should receive them by the end of the week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told CNN on Monday.
The tests are intended to help states with the reopening, according to an HHS news release.
“To protect seniors and facilitate the continued reopening of schools, businesses, and the economy, the Trump Administration prioritized expanding our testing capacity at state and national points of care,” said Admiral Dr. Brett Giroir , the department’s assistant secretary for health, said in a press release Sunday.
“Combining personal responsibility with smart, targeted testing is a proven formula for preventing outbreaks, but we cannot ‘prove our way out’ of this pandemic,” Giroir said. “Public vigilance is required to adhere to precautionary measures, especially as we clearly see the onset of mitigation fatigue.”
What happens when hospitals are overwhelmed?
Some hospitals are starting to run out due to the new increase. And that’s bad news for everyone, not just those with coronavirus.
“We have seen what happened before in this pandemic, when hospitals are overwhelmed and patients end up without receiving care, not only coronavirus patients, but also patients with heart attacks and strokes and had car accidents,” said the doctor emergency Dr. Leana Wen said.
“That could be happening across the country as our hospitals get overwhelmed,” Wen said. “And unlike last time, where only certain parts of the country were experiencing this, we now have virus hot spots that are happening everywhere.”
As of Monday, at least 37 states had a growing number of new Covid-19 cases last week compared to the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins. Thirteen states were roughly stable, and no state had Covid-19 declines of at least 10%
More than 8.6 million people have been infected with coronavirus in the US and more than 225,000 have died.
We have ‘a small window of opportunity right now’
“This is not inevitable. In fact, we have a small window of opportunity right now to stop the explosive expansion that is coming,” Wen said Monday.
“But we have this window to act now. That includes things like national mask mandates, which includes other specific policies. This is not all or nothing,” he said.
“President Trump tends to frame this as if we shut down completely or literally do nothing. Actually, there are many things we can do that will save lives and keep our economy going. We should implement those policies now.”
A national mask mandate could help keep businesses open
A growing number of officials from all political parties are calling for a mask mandate at the national level.
“A term may be expressly limited to the next two months,” Gottlieb wrote, adding that it is easier to wear a mask in winter than in summer.
“The inconvenience would allow the country to preserve health care capacity and keep more schools and businesses open.”
Andy Slavitt, former acting chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, agreed with Gottlieb on a mask mandate.
“Scott Gottlieb was a Republican. This is not a partisan issue,” said Slavitt, who served in the Obama administration.
“This is a public health problem for everyone and will slow the spread of the disease.”
If 95% of Americans wore masks in public, more than 100,000 lives could be saved in the United States through February, according to data released Friday by the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
“If people don’t wear masks, then maybe we should enforce them,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Gottlieb wrote that the mask mandates have become divisive only because of the way some politicians and political commentators have framed the issue.
“States should be able to choose how to enforce a mandate,” he wrote, “but the goal should be to make masks a social and cultural norm, not a political statement.”
CNN’s Amanda Watts, Jacqueline Howard, Artemis Moshtaghian, Ganesh Setty, Alec Snyder, Naomi Thomas, Kay Jones, and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.
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