The US government has said that the COVID-19 virus is under control. Some experts have expressed their apprehension by pointing to the increasing number of new cases reported daily as evidence that the virus is still spreading. They also believe the system didn’t respond as quickly and adequately to the pandemic as it should have. While all these opinions and arguments are floating around, everyone is on the same page that COVID is a problem and there is a vast scope for improvement. America’s daily average death count from this virus is 400, with 30,000 patients seeking hospitalizations. Additionally, one also has to consider the cases of long COVID.
If you look at the two scenarios, you can notice a massive difference between how things were in the initial days of the pandemic and how life has changed and gotten normal after it. At the beginning of the pandemic, the US took many strict measures to control the spread of infection, including social distancing, vaccination, and more. Today, Americans are experiencing a return to their pre-pandemic times with concerts and restaurants inviting people, schools holding physical classes, and travel restrictions getting dropped. But some experts practice caution while still being positive in their outlook. They refer to this phase as a transitioning period – from the pandemic to the post-pandemic era. It means that the virus is not over yet but is manageable.
Overall COVID-19 scene in the US
According to medical experts, the virus is an endemic stage where one may not have to worry about the quick spread. One of the illustrious medicine professors at the University of California-San Francisco informs us that coronavirus-induced deaths can decrease in number, but it will not be zero. The fatality rate in the US caused by this virus has been comparatively lower than in other pandemics. The excess death rate has also drastically improved. While it reached 25,000 cases per week in the initial coronavirus surges, the numbers now varied from 0-5,000 during the spring season. Hospital admissions have been steady since the pandemic’s effect slowed down.
Interestingly, most COVID hospitalizations are incidental, meaning the virus is not the main reason behind this situation. About one in three cases primarily report COVID-related issues. Another positive development is that new variants have not come up after late 2021. The most dominating BA.5 also surfaced in early July. However, there is again a warning that it doesn’t imply that new variants will not occur. And if something happens, Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines can get a quick upgrade to deal with the situation. But for now, no such strain can evade immunity gained from a vaccine. Hence, you can relax a little.
COVID-19 scenario in New York
Going by MyBioSource’s recent COVID-19-related study, about 25% of New Yorkers supported the pandemic measures mandated by the government and health agencies. It is an exciting insight indeed. However, if you look into the current coronavirus scenario in the state, you will realize that the infection rate has increased by 8% in one week. Many counties, excluding NYC, have witnessed increased infection risks and new cases. And this time, children have been most vulnerable. A week before, the weekly COVID-19 infection tally was 32,513; a week later, it was 34,988. Johns Hopkins University reported that the state ranks fourth in terms of widespread virus situation in the country.
Currently, the national average of COVID infection is about 401,500, and 17 American states have reported an upward trend in new cases in one week. Focusing solely on New York, you will know that counties like Monroe and Orange experienced 24% and 31% spikes. Some time back, the health agencies had relaxed rules requiring schools to report COVID-19 cases that helped monitor the virus spread among teachers and kids. However, the authorities may reverse it if things worsen.
A large part of New York falls under the “medium risk” zone as per the federal guidelines, although it was “low risk” during summer. Suffolk, Oswego, Putnam, Fulton, and Montgomery qualify as high-risk areas in the state. The state reported 144 COVID-related deaths in one week, though it had been less than 191 a week before. However, hospitalizations have jumped by 15%. Because of the recent trend, health experts encourage people to follow indoor masking rules in highly infected areas.
To sum it up, 6,094,999 New Yorkers have got the infection so far, beginning from the initial days of the pandemic, and 71,646 people have died due to this, as shown by Johns Hopkins University stats. At a national level, 96,070,980 people tested positive, and 1,056,416 lost their lives to this disease.
With the festive season almost there, it’s natural to want to celebrate the festivities with near and dear ones after a gap of nearly two years. However, ensure you don’t forget that the virus has not disappeared.
