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WASHINGTON: The White House coronavirus task force warned Thursday (October 29) of a widespread and persistent spread of COVID-19 in the western half of the United States, and its members urged aggressive action to stem the increased infections.
The hardest hit areas include a series of battle states that will play a major role in Tuesday’s US presidential election, as Republican President Donald Trump seeks a second term against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
“We are on a very difficult trajectory. We are going in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the task force and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci said coronavirus cases were increasing in 47 states and patients were overwhelming hospitals across the country.
“If things don’t change, if they continue the way we are, there will be a lot of pain in this country regarding additional cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” Fauci said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday night. .
The White House coronavirus task force has warned states in the central and western parts of the country that aggressive measures will be necessary to curb the spread of the virus, according to weekly state reports seen by CNN.
“We continue to see relentless broad community expansion in the Midwest, Upper Midwest and the West. This will require aggressive mitigation to control both silent and asymptomatic spread and symptomatic spread,” the one state report said.
READ: Biden says stopping COVID-19 will take a lot of work, as Trump keeps stopping
At least seven states – Indiana, Ohio, Maine, Minnesota, Illinois, North Dakota and North Carolina – reported record one-day increases in COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.
Indiana also reported a record number of hospitalizations, which are skyrocketing across the country, a metric that is not tied to the amount of testing being done.
As of Thursday, there were 45,457 COVID-19 patients in US hospitals, the highest level since Aug. 14.
VIRUS ‘RAGING’
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the creation of “COVID Advocacy Teams” of community leaders that will focus on steps to try to stop the spread.
“The virus is sweeping across the state and there is no place to hide,” DeWine said at a news conference as he urged residents to redouble mitigation efforts such as wearing masks, social distancing and hand washing.
Health experts believe the virus is on the rise due to private social gatherings, colder temperatures driving people indoors, and Americans letting their guard down due to fatigue with COVID-19 restrictions.
Russell Vinik, medical director of Health Plans at the University of Utah, said the virus was spreading in his state primarily through small social gatherings.
As cases rise in Utah, Vinik said there was a great need for specialized medical professionals to handle the increase.
“We have adequate PPE (personal protective equipment), our big problem is humans, the people you need,” he said in an interview. “This is not about hospital beds. It is about trained and specialized providers to care for those patients.”
As the pandemic threatens to extend into winter, with a vaccine still months away, Vinik said hospitals would likely become more tense.
Fauci noted that the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be available to some high-risk Americans in late December or early January, if all goes well.
Trump in the election campaign has repeatedly played down the virus, claiming for weeks that the country is “rounding the turn”, even as new cases and hospitalizations rise.
At a rally in Arizona on Thursday, the president again argued against taking stricter measures against a resurgence of the virus.
Biden and his fellow Democrats in Congress have criticized Trump for his handling of the health crisis that has led to nearly 228,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States, the highest total in the world.
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