- The USA has entered the third wave of coronavirus infection. New cases are being seen in the Midwest.
- Public health experts worry that this wave could be the largest, and perhaps the most lively.
- They added that since the lockdown has taken place, people are spending more time indoors and “epidemic fatigue” has begun.
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Seventeen U.S. states have reported more new cases of coronavirus in the past week than at any other week. The country’s seven-day new cases have increased by about 25% since October 1, with the number of new cases rising in 41 states in the last two weeks. U.S. On an average, more than 1,000,000 cases are being seen in India every day.
Brown University emergency-therapist Dr. Megan Renny, “I’m not a doomsday person, but this is the beginning of a wave.” Wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Indeed, the USA has entered the third major wave of infection – one expert worries that it gives the biggest signal. There is a combination of factors, he says: lockdown measures have been taken, the weather is getting colder as more people are spending time indoors, residents are tired of safety measures, and cases are never declining enough.
Assistant Professor Ingrid Katz said, “If rates never come down so low and basic public-health measures are not adopted globally, and then you bring people indoors to share meals together, you can put the whole storm together.” “Ingrid Katz, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told Business Insider. “Unfortunately this was perfectly expected.”
Indeed, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicted in August Gust that more than 20 states would need to revise lockdown measures before December, including shutting down nonsensational industries and re-issuing stay-at-home orders. His model Dale predicts that the U.S. At least 175,000 more people could die as of February 1. This will make the third wave extremely terrible.
“The infection that will fill our hospital in 2 weeks is already contagious,” said Raney.
The epidemic is exhausting
During the first wave in the spring, U.S. The cases were centered in the northeast. By the second wave this summer, the cases had shifted south and towards the Sunbelt. Cases are now concentrated in the Midwest, but the virus has spread more than ever before – it took 10 months to spread.
Nevertheless, the US has been hamstrung by inadequate contact tracing and widespread distrust of scientific recommendations.
“In a way,” Katz added, “we still don’t have a national integrated response. We still have a lot of misinformation about simple, basic public-health behaviors that are effective at wearing masks. “We’re fighting two epidemics – that of Kovid and then, of course, the misinformation around him.”
Jones Local Bar on May 14 in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Getty Images by Jerry Holt / Star Tribune
But it is understandable that some Americans are struggling to follow public safety measures, he added, adding that many have developed “epidemic fatigue”. This makes them less likely to stay at home or be aware of the local transmission. By reopening schools and businesses, others may get the false impression that the environment is now completely safe.
“We’re seeing roller coasters in the United States,” said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a statement. “It seems that as the infection progresses people wear masks and become more socially isolated, then shortly after the infection subsides, people protect themselves and stop taking these steps to protect themselves and others – which, of course, leads to more infections. Leads to … and the potentially fatal cycle begins again. ”
Increasing hospital admissions can lead to more lockdowns
Despite the new cases being concentrated in the Midwest, experts said they could quickly spill over into other parts of the country.
At least 14 states have test-positivity rates – the proportion of coronavirus tests that return positive – above 10%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fawcett said the test-positivity rate should ideally sit below %%. The rate between 7 and 9% is “very disturbing”, according to Harvard T.H. Dr. Chan School Public Health Professor. Howard Koh, previously told Business Insider.
The U.S. overall test-positivity rate was 5.6% on Thursday, up slightly from 6% in October-October 2011.
Medical staff push a stretcher with a dead patient outside the CIV-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on June 30.
Go Nakamura / Getty Images
Coronavirus hospital admissions are also on the rise. As of Friday, they were up 21% from three weeks ago. Dozens of states, including Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin, have seen record hospital admissions in the past week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
It is difficult to know whether this will translate to a proportional increase in mortality. Doctors have evolved better in treating patients since the onset of the epidemic, and mortality rates vary or become infected depending on specific population groups, but there is no cure for the virus.
If hospitals begin to overcrowd, public-health experts say this will necessitate stricter lockdown restrictions again.
“There are a number of steps you can take between this and the entire quarantine,” Katz said. “You can stop eating in person, people can stop going to the gym, you can stop having your hot-yoga class. These are all different ways we can pull back.”
