The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says she is ‘deeply concerned’ about a possible shift in the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic because the decline in cases and deaths in the US has come to a halt. States have started restricting feedback and spreading new variants.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on Monday that the latest data shows that cases in the US are down about 70,000 new cases a day with nearly 2,000 deaths, after a sharp decline in recent weeks. Walensky said the latest seven-day average in cases and deaths had increased about 2 percent from the previous week.
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“With these new statistics, I’m really concerned about reports that more states are reproducing the exact public health measures we have recommended that protect people against COVID-19,” Walensky said during a White House COVID-19. information session Monday.
‘Please hear me clearly: at this level of cases with variants spreading, we are losing the hard-earned ground we have won completely. These variants are a real threat to our people and our progress, ”she said.
“This is not the time to spread the critical precautions we know by slowing down the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close,” she added.
As the past few months have seen a dramatic decline, some governors across the U.S. have begun to relax pandemic restrictions. Massachusetts on Monday allowed indoor venues such as concert halls and theaters to open at 50 percent capacity, while restaurants in Arkansas are now allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity. Several other states have made similar changes.
Meanwhile, several COVID-19 variants are moving through the US, and it is causing concern among public health experts that they could reverse the downward trajectory of infections in the US.
Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser, said the administration takes a variant, B.1.526, first identified in New York City, very seriously. The variant first emerged in November and has a mutation that could impair the effectiveness of vaccines The New York Times.
Health officials are also monitoring strains that are believed to be more contagious, including those first identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
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