- Though many Americans are eager to return to normal after a year of living through the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reminded Americans that “we’re not quite there yet.”
- Americans still need to follow public heath guidelines for social distancing, mask use and hand washing.
A recent news article published in the CNN reveals that Americans may soon return to everyday activities, but not quite there yet.
Pandemic and its impact
This is not easy and so many of us are frustrated with the disruption this pandemic has had on our everyday lives, but we can do this as a nation working together.
There is reason to be hopeful because we now know so much more about this virus.
30 million coronavirus infections
More than 30 million coronavirus infections have been reported in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University(JHU), and almost 552,000 people have died from Covid-19.
After a decline in cases nationwide in recent weeks, the US just saw a jump. More than 66,870 new Covid-19 cases a day on average were reported over the past week, as of Monday.
That is a 24.6% increase over the week prior, when the average had fallen to its lowest point of 2021, according to JHU data.
Virus variant might be dominant
The more contagious B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the UK, which heath experts think is partly driving an uptick of cases in some states, may already be dominant across the country.
“I think we are there,” said William Lee, vice president of science at Helix, a company whose tests have identified a large share of variant cases across the country.
“But at the end of the day, it’s hard to say for sure,” given gaps and delays in the data.
Lee co-authored a study published Tuesday in the journal Cell that estimates the variant would cause the majority of Covid-19 cases in the US by March 19.
Vaccines in emergency use
Preliminary data suggests that the three vaccines that have so far won emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration “may provide some protection against a variety of strains, including B.1.1.7 (originally identified in the United Kingdom),” the CDC says in its guidance for fully vaccinated people.
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Source: CNN
