The United States is now in the fourth wave of the pandemic, as evidenced by the doubled COVID-19 case count over the past two weeks. Although no one can predict what the future holds, the United Kingdom’s example suggests that the infection rate could rise while hospitalizations remain low and deaths are relatively low.
Instead of spreading the virus throughout entire communities, it will target those who are not vaccinated, including children. If rates are high enough they may also target elderly or immunocompromised people.
“Since the vast majority of our population has now become immune, it is unlikely that we will see the same massive nationwide waves as we saw in January,” Dr. David Dowdy of the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a Wednesday webinar. He spoke to media.
However, major outbreaks are still possible in areas with low vaccination rates.
“We will be living in two pandemics,” Dr. Luis Ostrosky of UTHealth, chief of infectious disease at UTHealth, and infectious disease specialist at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Houston, said.
Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson have been approved for use in the United States. They all show high effectiveness against various variants of this virus, including Delta. This is now responsible for the majority of cases in the U.S.
COVID-19 is currently infecting more than 99% of patients. Ostrosky stated that almost all of his patients are not vaccinated, and they all regret not having the shots.
COVID-19 might not be as fatal in this new wave because older people have been vaccinated more often and younger people are less likely die from the infection. Ravina Kullar is an infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist, adjunct faculty member at UCLA Medical Center.
However, the Delta variant is significantly more contagious than other variants. It’s not clear if it causes people to be any sicker than before.
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Dr. Yonatan Grade, an infectious disease specialist at Harvard T.H., said that “the concern about Delta is well placed.” Chan School of Public Health. “We are certain that this wave is something we must contend with, and not to be taken lightly.”
The COVID-19 rates have risen again
The United States is now in the fourth wave of the pandemic, as evidenced by the doubled COVID-19 case count over the past two weeks.
Although no one can predict what the future holds, the United Kingdom’s example suggests that the infection rate could rise while hospitalizations remain low and deaths are relatively low.
Instead of spreading the virus throughout entire communities, it will target those who are not vaccinated, including children. If rates are high enough they may also target elderly or immunocompromised people.
“Since the vast majority of our population has now become immune, it is unlikely that we will see the same massive nationwide waves as we saw in January,” Dr. David Dowdy of the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a Wednesday webinar. He spoke to media.
However, major outbreaks are still possible in areas with low vaccination rates.
“We will be living in two pandemics,” Dr. Luis Ostrosky of UTHealth, chief of infectious disease at UTHealth, and infectious disease specialist at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Houston, said.
Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson have been approved for use in the United States. They all show high effectiveness against various variants of this virus, including Delta. This is now responsible for the majority of cases in the U.S.
COVID-19 is currently infecting more than 99% of patients. Ostrosky stated that almost all of his patients are not vaccinated, and they all regret not having the shots.
COVID-19 might not be as fatal in this new wave because older people have been vaccinated more often and younger people are less likely die from the infection. Ravina Kullar is an infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist, adjunct faculty member at UCLA Medical Center.
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However, the Delta variant is significantly more contagious than other variants. It’s not clear if it causes people to be any sicker than before.
Dr. Yonatan Grade, an infectious disease specialist at Harvard T.H., said that “the concern about Delta is well placed.” Chan School of Public Health. “We are certain that this wave is something we must contend with, and not to be taken lightly.”
The COVID-19 rates have risen again
In the U.K., which has roughly the same rate of vaccinations as the U.S., the seven-day average number of infections is back to where it was on Jan. 20, when the country was just a few weeks past its peak.
But hospitalizations there are hovering around 500 a day compared to 4,500 at their January height and deaths remain far lower, with only 26 reported across the country on Tuesday compared to the Jan. 19 peak of over 1,300.