Coronavirus cases continue to rise in the United States, fueling fears of a fourth wave as officials urge Americans to continue to follow public health measures.
On Sunday, the U.S. recorded 46,378 new infections with a seven-day moving average of 70,196, the highest figure since Feb. 26.
In the past week alone, the average number of cases has risen by nearly 11 percent and the total increase in 22 states is according to a DailyMail.com analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
Although the figure is well below the January peak of about 247,000 average new cases, it is consistent with the boom at the end of July, when the daily cases averaged about 68,000.
Meanwhile, only 283 coronavirus deaths were reported on Sunday, the second-lowest number reported this month, the analysis revealed.
However, the seven-day moving average exceeded 1,000 for the first time in almost two weeks.
Since the pandemic began, more than 31.1 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 562,000 have died.
Although vaccinations continue to increase across the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, has warned that after about a year, Americans will need boost shots to maintain immunity.
On Sunday, the U.S. recorded 46,378 new coronavirus infections with a seven-day moving average of 70,196, the highest figure since February 26.
Although only 283 coronavirus deaths were reported on Sunday, the seven-day average exceeded more than 1,000 for the first time in nearly two weeks.
In the past week, the average number of cases has risen by almost 11% and 22 states report increasing numbers of cases, according to an analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on MSNBC (pictured) on Sunday that after a year, Americans will need to receive coronavirus vaccine boosters to maintain the level of protection.
During an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday, Fauci was asked about data from Pfizer Inc, which showed that the coronavirus vaccine was effective for at least six months.
“We have to be careful with the number of six months,” Fauci said, adding that this period was the furthest scientists could measure.
“We know for sure that it will be effective for six months and that it will probably be significantly longer.”
He said that in the coming months, researchers will continue to study humans, measure their antibody levels and study any fully vaccinated person who has contracted COVID-19.
So the good news is that it’s at least six months. Hopefully a lot more, ‘Fauci said.
“But if it turns out to be a year or a year and a half, we should quite possibly take a boost survey to maintain the level of protection.”
This is a reversal from a previous statement in which the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he was confident that the available vaccines provided adequate protection.
“Preliminary data show that the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States should provide adequate protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants,” Fauci said in late March.
He added that the NIAID had proceeded “out of an abundance of caution” to evaluate a collaborative candidate with Moderna.
This comes as experts worry about the Midwest, which has seen an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
In Minnesota, the number of infections rose from an average of 1,569 a day to 2,348 a day, a 49 percent increase over two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
In nearby Illinois, coronavirus cases have increased in the same way, with 48 percent in the past 14 days from 2,412 per day to 3,578 per day.
Perhaps the state that scientists are most concerned about is Michigan.
Over the course of the month, the average number of cases in Michigan increased from about 2,000 per day to more than 6,000 per day, and hospitalizations increased by 400%.
In Minnesota, the number of coronavirus infections increased from an average of 1,569 per day to 2,348 per day, an increase of 49% over two weeks,
In Illinois, coronavirus cases have increased by 48% in the last 14 days from 2,412 per day to 3,578 per day
In just one month, cases have exploded from an average of about 2,000 per day to more than 6,000 per day
Data from the state show that there were 3,780 COVID-19 patients in the hospital in April, an increase of more than 400 percent in just one month.
The increase appears to be due to the coronavirus variant first identified in the UK, known as B.1.1.7, which accounts for about 70 per cent of new cases in the state.
“Michigan is really the clock in what it looks like when the B.1.1.7 variant spreads in the United States,” Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist, told CNN on Sunday.
“It causes an increase in cases and it causes worse diseases, which means that even younger people, people in their thirties, forties and fifties, get very ill and are admitted to hospital.”
Gounder said the other factor behind the boom is the lack of the following measures for public health, such as not wearing masks before a large percentage of residents are vaccinated.
“The hard truth is that the only thing that will currently stop the transfer are measures that take effect immediately,” she said.
Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has criticized Biden’s government for refusing to send an increase in vaccines to Michigan.
“This is a request that has been made for weeks now, and I think we should have done it weeks ago,” he told CBS ‘Face the Nation on Sunday.
“It’s never too late to do that. And it’s not just additional vaccine, but it’s the resources to get the vaccine into the weapon. ‘
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, warned on Monday that pandemic is far from over and insisted on complacency. Pictured: Tedros attends a news conference, July 2020
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that confusion and complacency in addressing COVID-19 means that the pandemic is far from over.
However, he said that the crisis could be brought under control within months with proven measures for public health.
“We also want to see societies and economies reopen, and travel and trade resumed,” Tedros said in a newsletter in Geneva, Switzerland.
‘But at the moment, intensive care units are overflowing in many countries and people are dying – and this can be completely avoided. The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, but we have many reasons for optimism. ‘
He noted that the decline in cases and deaths seen after the 2020-21 winter surge is proof that both the virus and the variants can be stopped.
Maria van Kerkove, the technical leader of the WHO for COVID-19, said during the news conference that last week there was a nine percent increase in cases, the seventh consecutive week of increases and a five percent increase in deaths . .
Tedros said the transmission of the virus was driven by ‘confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures’.
He added that restaurants and nightclubs in some countries were full and that the markets were open and crowded with few people taking precautions, despite constant distribution.
“Some people seem to take the approach that if they are relatively young, it does not matter if they get COVID-19,” Tedros said.
