As Americans head to a festive weekend in the shadow of a devastating coronavirus pandemic, some governors are reconsidering their stance on facial coatings after days of record-breaking infections.
© Mark Humphrey / AP
A man and a girl listen to a band outside a music venue in Nashville, Tenn. The Nashville Department of Health has a mask mandate to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The United States reported more than 52,000 new cases of the virus Thursday, a new daily record that exceeds one set the previous day.
The coronavirus has killed more than 128,000 people and infected more than 2.7 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University. Infection rates are increasing in 36 states, with patients rapidly filling hospitals across the south and west.
California, Arizona, Texas and Florida recorded new record cases this week: Florida reported more than 10,000 additional cases of coronavirus on Thursday, while Texas had about 8,000.
Nearly two dozen states have halted its reopens to combat the spread, while others have taken additional steps to keep it out of their borders. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut issued a travel advisory requiring people arriving from eight states with high rates of coronavirus to be quarantined for two weeks.
Here are other important developments this week:
Masks alone cannot help fight the coronavirus
Some state leaders have attributed the increase in new cases to more evidence. But experts attributed it to the increase in infections caused by the lack of a comprehensive response.
“If you turn your back on the virus, if you turn your back on science, it will bite you,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“And that’s what happens in most of the US, where we see really rapid increases and, in some places, increases in the virus.”
Contrary to what people think, he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo, the virus cannot be stopped by a single measure.
“Whether it’s restricting travel or staying home or trying a lot of people or wearing a mask. And that’s all important, but none of them, by themselves, is going to control this,” he said. “Basically you need to physically distance yourself. The three W’s: wear a mask, wash your hands, observe your distance, and you need to encapsulate the virus with strategic testing, effective isolation, rapid contact tracing, and support quarantine. We are not doing that yet in the most of the country. “
Authorities fear that July 4 may spark an increase in cases, and are urging Americans to limit their holidays to prevent outbreaks. The holiday weekend could be the “perfect storm” for a peak in coronavirus cases due to travel, easing restrictions and people who don’t follow preventive guidelines, said Dr. Joshua Barocas, an infectious disease doctor at the Boston Medical Center.
The virus has mutated to become more infectious.
The guide is especially relevant after new research that the virus has mutated to become more infectious.
A global study found strong evidence that a new form of coronavirus has spread from Europe to the US The new mutation makes the virus more likely to infect people, but it doesn’t seem to make patients sicker than it does. Previous variations of the virus, an international team of researchers reported Thursday.
“It is now the dominant form that infects people,” said Erica Ollmann Saphire of the La Jolla Institute of Immunology and the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium, which worked on the study. “This is now the virus.”
The team verified more genetic sequences and conducted experiments on people, animals, and cells on laboratory dishes that show that the mutated version is more common and more infectious than other versions.
The new version appears to multiply faster in the upper respiratory tract (nose, sinuses and throat), which would explain why it happens more easily, the researchers said. But tests on 1,000 hospitalized patients with coronavirus showed that those infected with the new version fared no worse than those who caught the original strain.
“We know that the new virus is in better shape. It doesn’t seem at first glance as if it were worse,” Saphire said.
The study was published in the journal Cell and confirms previous work suggesting that the mutation made the new variant of the virus more common.
Thousands more projected deaths this month
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now project nearly 148,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by July 25.
This week’s national forecast is based on 24 individual forecasts from outside institutions and researchers. New projections released Thursday offer the projection with a possible range of approximately 139,000 to 161,000 deaths.
“Statewide aggregate forecasts suggest that the number of new deaths over the next four weeks in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming will likely exceed the number reported during the past four weeks, “the CDC said on its forecasting website.
“For other states, the number of new deaths is expected to be similar to the number seen in the previous four weeks or to decrease slightly.”
Unlike the individual models, the CDC’s joint forecast provides projections for the coming month.
More states mandate sweeping mask mandates
When the mask mandates for Texas and Kansas take effect on Friday, 19 states and Washington, DC will have such requirements.
In a major change of heart, Texas will not allow people in counties with 20 or more active Covid-19 cases to go out without covering their faces. About 95% of Texans live in those areas.
“We have the ability to keep business open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a salary, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect each other, and that means wearing a mask in public spaces. “Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.
Texans under the age of 10 and people with a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask are exempt. Repeating violations can result in a fine, the order says.
Other governors have also issued orders statewide, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, and Michigan.
It is not possible to determine what caused the current spike in coronavirus cases, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But it is likely the result of a series of events that occurred simultaneously, including protests, Memorial Day holidays and reopening of states, he told the Harvard Business Review.
Of the 36 states whose new cases have increased this week compared to the previous one, nine of them have increased by more than 50%. They are Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alaska, and Delaware.
Video: Fauci: Vaccine May Not Get Enough Immunity Level From USA (CNN)
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