|
 Instead it is smoldering across all states, raising fears that when
colder weather forces more people inside, it could surpass the surge
seen in the summer.
The United States is losing on average over 800 people a day to the
virus - compared with fewer than 15 a day on average in Australia,
Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Although new cases are down about 50% from the peak in July, the
United States is still reporting on average nearly 40,000 new
infections a day - the highest number in the developed world.
Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he
would like to see new cases below 10,000 per day before flu season
starts in October.
"We need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter,
because it's not going to be easy," Fauci said during a panel
discussion with doctors at Harvard Medical School earlier this
month.
"We've been through this before," he said. "Don't ever, ever
underestimate the potential of the pandemic. And don't try and look
at the rosy side of things."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield
has also warned that Americans are in for "the worst fall, from a
public health perspective, we've ever had," citing concerns of a
possible "twindemic" of COVID-19 cases and the seasonal flu
overwhelming hospitals.
THIRD WAVE?
Cases are trending upwards in about 20 out of 50 states, including
former epicenters like New Jersey and New York that had seen cases
decline for months.
Some of the biggest increases, on a percentage basis, are in North
Dakota and Wisconsin, two states where cases have yet to peak and
have steadily climbed since the pandemic started more than six
months ago.
Other states like South Carolina and Utah peaked in July and cases
have come down sharply only to recently rise again.
[to top of second column] |
(Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for a Reuters interactive
graphic)
The epidemic first battered nursing homes in Washington state on the West Coast
in January before quickly overwhelming New York City and Northeastern states in
March and April.
The country enjoyed a reprieve during the early summer before seeing both cases
and deaths spike in July. There is no clear consensus on what caused the spike
but health officials point to Memorial Day parties, bars and other high-risk
businesses reopening and the public being lulled into a false sense that the
worst was over.
In the second wave during the summer, Arizona, California, Florida and Texas
became the new epicenters - some of the most populous areas of the country.
Through a combination of more states requiring masks and new more targeted
restrictions, that second wave has again ebbed. Still, the United States is
reporting twice as many new cases each day as it did on its best days in the
spring.
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC News
that he worries a third wave could be more diffused and spread across a broader
section of the country.
"I do think that we're going to have a third act of this virus in the fall and
the winter and it's likely to be more pervasive spread in a broader part of the
country," he said.
(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker in Chicago, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
