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The United States should prepare for a Covid-19 surge this summer that could hit southern states hardest, said Dr. Deborah Birx, a former Trump administration pandemic response coordinator. said Take on the Nation on Sunday, as coronavirus infections gradually rise across the country.
Dr. Deborah Birx speaks at the White House on November 19, 2020.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
key facts
Birx said coronavirus surges in other countries, including South Africa, tend to occur every four to six months, suggesting that people’s natural immunity against previous Covid-19 infections may wane during that period.
Birx noted that about a year ago, the United States had a “mini” spike in Covid-19 in April 2021, followed by a lull “where everyone thought it was over” and then another spike in August and September, a pattern that could repeat. same this year.
Covid-19 infections are on the rise in the US, with the seven-day average of new cases rising 122% over about the last month to 56,166 per day in the last week, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disease Control and Prevention, although case counts are still well below their January peak, when the country reported an average of 805,814 cases per day.
pivotal appointment
“We should be bracing right now for a potential spike in the summer in the southern United States because we saw it in 2020 and we saw it in 2021,” Birx said. take on the nation.
Against
A jump in Covid-19 infections may not be accompanied by a rise in deaths, due to the high transmissibility but relatively low severity of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Although Covid-19 infections have more than doubled over the past month or so, the average number of deaths from Covid-19 has decreased by 53% in the same period, according to data from the CDC.
key background
As COVID-19 vaccines and treatments become available to the very young and Americans become more comfortable meeting in person, public health experts have warned the public not to become complacent about the threat of COVID-19. virus. According to the CDC, the seven-day average of hospital admissions for COVID-19 is up 14% from the previous week. Additionally, the omicron variant, while generally less severe than other variants, has been linked to a fourfold increase in childhood hospitalizations for Covid-19, with unvaccinated children far more likely to be severely affected than vaccinated children. . The administration reportedly plans to make Pfizer’s antiviral Covid-19 pill Paxlovid available in US pharmacies in a bid to reduce hospitalizations and other negative outcomes.
Tangent
In a book published last month, Birx described alleged blunders in the Trump administration’s Covid-19 response that Birx said made the pandemic worse and put the public at risk. However the New York Times reported in 2020 that Birx encouraged administration officials to believe that the pandemic would rapidly subside during the spring, contributing to an inadequate early response to the pandemic. After being relieved of her position as Covid-19 adviser by the incoming Biden Administration, Birx claimed that she had “always” thought about resigning because she felt ineffective in her role in the Trump Administration.
big number
991,030. That’s the cumulative number of reported Covid-19 deaths in the US as of Sunday, according to the CDC.
Other readings
“Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump adviser on COVID-19, says book will ‘expose’ pandemic’s early missteps” (Forbes)