Global News in Canada shows that the United States faces renewed urgency to get more Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, as cases spike again in many states.
On average, the daily case rates are almost four times higher than in Canada. And every single day, the USA still records an average of 1,200 COVID-related deaths, which are on track to exceed one million deaths by March.
Jackson Proskow reports on where infections are multiplying, as millions of people prepare to travel over Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The dangerous COVID-19 pandemic in the USA is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since January 2020, 47,050,502 confirmed cases have been reported with 762,972 deaths, the most of any country, and the 19th-highest per capita worldwide. As many infections have really gone undetected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that, as of May 2021, there could be a total 120.2 million infections in the country of the United States, or more than a third of the total population. COVID-19 is the deadliest pandemic in USA history; it was the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer. From 2019 to 2020, U.S. life expectancy dropped by 3 years for Hispanic Americans, 2.9 years for African Americans, and 1.2 years for white Americans. These dangerous effects have persisted as USA deaths due to COVID-19 in 2021 exceeded those in 2020.
On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and President Donald Trump declared the USA outbreak a public health emergency on January 31. Restrictions were placed on flights arriving from China, but the initial USA response to the pandemic was otherwise slow, in terms of preparing the healthcare system, stopping other travel, and Covid Virus important testing.
In the USA, it seems that most states see rising COVID cases as winter surge fears grow. Some states expand booster access.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the "delta virus variant" of COVID-19 is not over in the USA. Nearly all of the nation's coronavirus infections are now attributed to the highly-contagious virus variant. Winter months result in more people gathering indoors. A winter virus surge is a dangerous possibility.
Johns Hopkins University data shows detailed information about virus cases based on geographical regions like different states. See more information here: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
For example, in New Mexico, hospitals are running out of intensive care beds, despite the state's high vaccination rate.