(CBSDFW.COM/CNN) – In the last two weeks, the US registered more than 915,000 new cases of coronavirus, that is, more than the cases reported nationwide during the entire month of June.
The staggering number indicates that the United States is still far from containing the virus, which is spreading through American communities, overwhelming hospitals, and testing labs. The spread has promised a bleak outlook for the coming months, according to health officials and the president. And experts have highlighted that the actual number of infections is probably much higher than the reported cases.
That comes when some US leaders have admitted that parts of the country reopened too soon. And as they did, residents rushed back to old habits: crowding bars, packing beaches on hot summer days, barbecued, and vacationed with friends.
The surge in new cases across the South and Southwest has now been linked to Americans’ Memorial Day travel and reopens, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah said Wednesday. Birx.
“This epidemic appeared throughout the south and west after June 10 simultaneously,” he said. “We saw a wide spread of virus between counties, rural areas, small yards, and big yards, throughout the south, southwest, and west, almost simultaneously.
Hoping to catch up on the spread, at least 27 states have paused or reversed their plans to reopen. In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke again in favor of a second order to stay home amid a surge in cases. In Los Angeles, the mayor said the city was “on the verge” of another lockdown. But in Georgia, the governor criticized Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ decision to return to Phase 1, where residents are ordered to their homes with the exception of essential travel.
What comes next is unclear: Now that at least 41 states require covering their faces, some have said that strict measures like limiting meetings and enforcing social distancing and masks can be as shocking as another blockade. But others are not so hopeful.
“Masks will help, but I think we need much more than masks to contain this epidemic that is going through our country like a freight train,” said William Haseltine, president and chairman of global health expert group ACCESS Health International.
“Until we see major changes in behavior and until we see that public health services are stepping forward with many more resources, we are not sure we will contain this.”
Louisiana on track to reach 100,000 cases
Louisiana, where the governor said earlier this month that the June progress against the virus was wiped out in weeks, will join at least 11 other states that reported a total of more than 100,000 infections.
These include Texas, California (with most cases), New York, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
In Texas, the state broke its record for hospitalizations two days in a row this week, with 10,848 patients reported Tuesday and 10,893 reported Wednesday. It also reported its highest number of deaths in a single day on Wednesday: 197.
Fauci: ‘I don’t see us eradicating’ virus
As states focus on reducing the spread of the coronavirus, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert says the world can never eradicate the virus, but can control it with a vaccine and good public health measures.
“I think that with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of herd immunity in the herd and a good vaccine, which I hope and feel cautiously optimistic to obtain. I think when the three of us get together, I think we will have a very good handle on this, ”said Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking during an Internet broadcast hosted by the TB Alliance.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization also said that the world is unlikely to be able to eradicate or eliminate COVID-19 any time soon.
Positive results are now being obtained from trials involving three different coronavirus vaccines, but even when a vaccine is approved, there will be major obstacles to its distribution.
And another hurdle: Half of Americans would not receive a coronavirus vaccine if it were available today due to lack of confidence, former US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN earlier this week.
Murphy said, “We know that distributing vaccines will be difficult enough, and if people are unwilling to take it because we have not generated enough public confidence, that will seriously affect our ability to develop collective immunity.”
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. CNN Wire ™ and © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner company contributed to this report.)
.
