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The COVID-19 pandemic just hit another grim milestone.
Herb Scribner, 4 hrs ago.
The coronavirus pandemic has reached levels seen back in the winter,
wiping out months of progress made with the release of the COVID-19
vaccine, according to The Associated Press.
Right now, the U.S. is an average of about 1,800 COVID-19 deaths and
170,000 new cases per day. Back in January, the U.S. reached a high of
about 3,400 deaths and 250,000 cases per day on average. Though the
January numbers are still significantly higher, that was the peak of the
pandemic. And winter is right on the doorstep for the United States.
Scenes from around the country sound similar to reports from last
winter. States like Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee are seeing a rise in
cases as kids return to school. And across the country, the dire need
for hospital beds plagues the country.
“The dire situation in some hospitals is starting to sound like
January’s infection peak: Surgeries canceled in hospitals in Washington
state and Utah,” per The Associated Press. “Severe staff shortages in
Kentucky and Alabama. A lack of beds in Tennessee. Intensive care units
at or over capacity in Texas.” Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the
Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s
Hospital, told CNN that the only way people will return to normal is
through getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’re in the same storm, but we’re not in the same boat. Some of us are
in yachts. We have resources. We can work from home, we’re
immune-competent, we have access to a vaccine — and some of us are in
rafts,” Christakis said. A recent forecasting model from the University
of Washington suggested that close to another 100,000 people could die
from the novel coronavirus between August and December, as I wrote for
the Deseret News.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, recently said that the only way to avoid so many
COVID-19 cases is through vaccination, too.
“If we do it right and get through the winter, I hope as we get to the
spring of 2022, we’ll get there,” he said on the “Today” show.