PROVIDENCE, RI (PA) – The deadliest month to date of the US coronavirus outbreak has ended with some signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining, while vaccinations are rising.
The question is whether the nation can cope with the rapidly spreading mutations of the virus.
The death toll in the United States exceeded 440,000, with more than 95,000 lives lost in January alone. Deaths average about 3,150 a day, down slightly from their peak in mid-January.
But as the calendar moved to February Monday, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 fell below 100,000 for the first time in two months. The new cases of infection are on average about 148,000 days, falling from almost a quarter of a million in mid-January. And cases are on a downward trend in all 50 states.
“While the recent decline in cases and hospitalizations are encouraging, they are offset by the harsh reality that in January we recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in any month since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Dr. Rochelle. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths do not move in perfect blockage up or down with the infection curve. These are an indicator of delay, as it can take several weeks for people to get sick and die from COVID-19.
Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist at Boston College, said vaccines are a factor in the sharp decline in cases, but they are not the root cause. Instead, he said, the crisis has become increasingly “depoliticized” in recent weeks as more people face the threat and how they can help slow the spread of the virus.
“I do not think you can underestimate the importance of this change in culture. I think it’s extremely important, “he said.
After a slow start, the momentum of vaccination, which began in mid-December, is picking up. More than 32.2 million doses have been administered in the United States, according to the CDC. It rose from 16.5 million on the day President Joe Biden took office on January 20.
The number of shots fired in the week and a half since Biden’s inauguration averaged about 1.3 million a day, well above the president’s often stated goal of 1 million a day. More than 5.9 million Americans received the two required doses, the CDC said.
However, the CDC reported Monday that many nursing home workers do not receive photos when doses are first offered.
The researchers looked at more than 11,000 nursing homes and other such facilities that had at least one vaccination clinic between mid-December and mid-January. While 78% of residents received at least one blow, only 37.5% of staff members did so. Surveys suggest that some nursing home workers are skeptical about the effectiveness of the photos and do not believe the viruses spread easily from them to the people they care for.
Three mutated variants of the virus from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil have been detected in the United States. The British are spreading more easily and are thought to be more deadly, but the one in South Africa is causing even more concern due to early indications that vaccines may not be as protective against it.
The more the virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to move.
Walensky urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as the shots are available and stressed that this is not the time to relax basic precautions, such as wearing masks.
Meanwhile, a snowstorm on Monday forced the closure of many vaccination sites in the Northeast, including New York and Connecticut.
And a plan to reopen schools in Chicago for about 62,000 students, for the first time since March, remained questionable. Last-minute negotiations on COVID-19 safety measures with the teachers’ union have ceased, increasing the possibility of a strike or blockade if educators do not show up for work.
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Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Marilynn Marchione, Sophia Tareen, Bill Kole and Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.