Lila Blanks holds the coffin of her husband, Gregory Blanks (50), who died of coronavirus (COVID-19), before his funeral in San Felipe, Texas, USA, January 26, 2021.
Callaghan O’Hare | Reuters
The United States began 2021 with the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic to date.
The death toll in January surpassed the previous record number of deaths that occurred in December when more than 77,400 people in the U.S. died from Covid-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. According to the data, the pandemic has taken more than 79,200 lives so far this month.
Over the past seven days, the country has reported an average of more than 3,300 deaths from Covid-19 each day, a 12% increase from a week ago, according to Hopkins data.
There are hopes that the death toll will slow down in the coming weeks. The number of daily new cases reported in the U.S., which epidemiologists use as a leading indicator of whether the outbreak is growing or declining, has been steadily declining over the past few days as it appears to be a boom driven by interstate travel and holiday festivities.
The U.S. reported about 146,600 new cases on Tuesday, which, according to the Hopkins data, reduced the seven-day average of new cases to just over 166,300 and up about 17%.
The number of people currently hospitalized in the US with Covid-19 is also declining, although it remains alarmingly high. More than 108,900 people have been admitted to hospital since Tuesday, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, set up by journalists at The Atlantic. That is less than 130,000 patients admitted to the hospital earlier this month.
But the possible spread in the US of new, more contagious strains of the virus, combined with a slower-than-expected rollout of the vaccines, threatens to reverse the progress made in fighting the outbreak.
The B.1.1.7 strain of the virus, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom and became the dominant strain there, has been found in a number of states in the USA. Epidemiologists say that the strain spreads more easily and that British officials have said it can also be more deadly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that 293 cases related to the virus strain have been found in the U.S., mostly in Florida and California.
And earlier this week, the Minnesota Department of Health said it was confirming the first known U.S. case of another virus strain originally discovered in Brazil. Another so-called variant of concern, called 501Y.V2 or B.1.351, depending on the epidemiologist, was first discovered in South Africa and is of concern to scientists because vaccines and drugs appear to be less effective against the strain. No cases related to the tribe have yet been discovered in the US
In an effort to curb the spread of the virus and especially the importation of new tribes, President Joe Biden earlier this week banned most non-US citizens traveling from South Africa from entering the US and restricting travel to Europe, the United Kingdom and Brazil have expanded.
The president painted a bleak picture of the outbreak and said Monday that the United States “will see between a total of 600,000 and 660,000 deaths before we turn the corner in a major way.”
While urging people to wear masks and follow public health measures such as social distance, Biden is working to increase the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccines, blaming the initial slow pace on the Trump administration. On Monday, he said the U.S. could get 1.5 million vaccinations a day, up from its earlier rate of 1 million a day, which had already been almost reached by the last government.
“Time is of the essence,” he said earlier this week. “We are trying to get a minimum of 100 million vaccinations within 100 days and move in the next 100 days in the direction where it is over, so that we can reach the point where we reach herd immunity in a country. of more than 300 million people. ‘
On Tuesday, he said the government was working to buy another 200 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which would increase US stocks from 400 million doses to 600 million, but that would not quickly increase vaccinations. He also said the administration would increase the number of doses sent to states each week by about 20%. Some states have said they have the ability to vaccinate more people, but are limited by the supply.