NEW YORK (AP) – US deaths from COVID-19 are declining again as the nation continues to recover from the devastating winter growth, a trend that experts cautiously hope will accelerate as they move. more vulnerable people are vaccinated.
While new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations have declined, the death toll from a January peak of about 4,500 it wasn’t as steep. But now, after weeks of flying around 2,000 daily deaths, that number has dropped to about 1,400 lives in the US lost every day by coronavirus.
“I am encouraged by this data, but we must remain vigilant,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at Friday’s White House briefing.
Public health experts say it is too early to say for sure what causes the decline in growth – but they suspect that travel meetings and indoor gatherings have fallen, large-scale wearing of the mask and the launch of the vaccine have contributed.
“We’re going in the right direction,” said researcher Jagpreet Chhatwal of Harvard Medical School. “I think a message of optimism is correct.”
Walensky and others worry that an audience tired of the pandemic will drop their guard too soon. And it is monitoring the spread of new worrying versions of the virus.
“We are all desperate to end this,” said Jeff Shaman, who is studying infectious diseases at Columbia University. “We are not in a safe place yet.”
Health workers say they have seen this before – a crushing wave of illness and death, a momentary improvement from a drop in COVID-19 cases and then another deadly wave. About 531,000 Americans have died since the pandemic began a year ago.
“Every time you thought you were done, the number of cases increased,” said Dr. Mark Rosenberg, chief of emergency medicine at St. Louis. Joseph’s Health in Paterson, New Jersey.
For now, most forecasts shows that coronavirus deaths will decline in the coming weeks as more people receive vaccines. Over 100 million doses have been given since December, and the pace is rising.
“We expect it to continue to drive these deaths even further,” said infectious disease expert John Less Hopkins Justin Lessler.
As of this week, 62% of those aged 65 and over they took at least one dose, according to the CDC. This is the age group that has been most affected and still accounts for the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths in the United States
Increasing treatments for severe COVID-19 will continue to help, doctors say.
“All of these things come together to put a problem in perspective,” said Dr. Lewis Nelson, an emergency medicine specialist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
The number of coronavirus deaths often lags behind new infections and hospitalizations, as it can take a long time for someone to become seriously ill and die after contracting the virus. It can also take weeks for deaths to be added to the national number.
“Unfortunately, there is a kind of longer queue, at death and death because of COVID-19,” said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, a public health expert at Boston College.
This was the case with Teresa Ciappa, 73, of Amherst, New York, who developed a terrible cough and fever around Thanksgiving. She was hospitalized shortly afterwards and died in early January due to complications caused by COVID-19.
“Week after week she refused and refused,” said her daughter, Michelle Ciappa, who lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Her family was there when she was taken out of a fan.
“I watched her breathe last time and that was it,” said Michelle Ciappa. “I want people to be patient and take this more seriously.”
If states continue to lift restrictions, health experts warn, we could see another deadly wave of disease.
On Monday, Wyoming became the latest state on a growing list – including Texas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Iowa, Montana and Alabama – that met the mask requirements or plans to do so soon. Governors across the country have also reduced restrictions on the number of customers that can be allowed in bars, restaurants, gyms and cinemas.
“It simply came to our notice then. Pick up a switch, “Lessler said. “There is a real possibility of great rebirths.”
Experts are also concerned about the uncontrolled spread of mutant versions of coronavirus that spread more easily and could reduce the effectiveness of certain treatments or vaccines.
“It’s another race against time,” said Jaline Gerardin, who is studying COVID-19 trends at Northwestern University. “The fear is that we won’t catch anything when we should.”
Rosenberg, the emergency physician, said he hoped the public would be encouraged by the pandemic’s downward trend of wearing masks, washing their hands and staying safe from others.
“We know what worked,” he said. “If we say we are in the last phase of the battle, do not give up your weapons yet.”
___
AP writers Thalia Beaty of New York and John Seewer of Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. AP is solely responsible for all content.