Yesterday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pleaded with Americans to not give up on using the measures we’re employed this last year to staunch the spread of COVID-19, and warned of a the possible coming of a Fourth Surge.
In an emotional address to the country, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, issued a dire warning of a sense of “impending doom” as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations tick up. Walensky said there are “continuing concerning trends” in the nation’s response to the pandemic, as the numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising.
The trajectory of the pandemic in the United States, she said, is following European countries like Germany, Italy and France, which have experienced a “consistent and worrying spike in cases.”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of CDC
In her televised address, Walensky became emotional, and said:
“I’m going to pause here, I’m going to lose the script and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to. So much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared.”
“We are not powerless. We can change this trajectory of the pandemic. But it will take all of us recommitting to following the public health prevention strategies consistently while we work to get the American public vaccinated.”
“I’m speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director, and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer. I so badly want to be done, I know you all so badly want to be done, we’re just almost there, but not quite yet. And so, I’m asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends.”
Check out the following chart showing states with the highest daily reported cases per 100,000 residents and the percentage increase; Michigan, New Jersey, New York.
Even as the vaccination rate increases and as the positive numbers fall in places like California, some American states and European countries are experiencing the opposite. Some Republican governors have “opened” up their states – like Florida, Texas – and banned masks and act like it’s all over.
Based on a 7-day average, there’s around 66,000 new COVID cases reported in America each day. That number is below January’s peak of 250,000 but more like the summer of 2020 surge, when daily cases peaked at 70,000 in late July.
In more than half of the US states, cases are increasing by 5% or more, based on the change in the seven-day average of daily cases from a week ago. 990 Americans are dying each day, with more than 550,000 gone over this last year.
3rd Wave Hitting Europe
Europe is experiencing what’s called a “third wave”. Hospitals in Paris are on the verge of being “overwhelmed” due to the rising number of COVID-19 patients. French President Emmanuel Macron is currently under fire for not locking the country down again. Instead, he installed a national curfew and more restrictions in certain French states, called départements. French doctors say more young people are dying from COVID-19.
Central Europe is getting slammed. Hungary has had the highest infection rate in the world. Poland’s cases are hitting record levels. Estonia has the world’s worst daily infection rate. Finland is considering locking down key cities, including Helsinki. Infections are surging in Romania, cases are going up in Greece and in Bulgaria. Things are not working well in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Some good news. A new CDC study of vaccinated health-care workers showed that one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine was 80% effective in preventing coronavirus infections, and 90% two weeks after the second dose. The pace of daily vaccinations is nearing 3 million shots per day.
News sources:
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
French prez Macron orders Covid lockdown across all of France, closes schools
And yet we in ‘murica won’t heed the warning. Europe was the canary in the coal mine and we shrugged our collective shoulders. Look what that got us!
It makes me sad that our country is so arrogant and unwilling to look past our ignorance in order to find a scientific solution to these problems. Every single person who has thrown up resistance to fighting this virus should be tried for treason.
Italy locked back down a week ago with what they are calling the ‘4th Wave’ of this disease, yes? Brazil is flat out collapsing with the new variant ripping through their population like a California wildfire in manzanita bushes…they are in DEEP trouble and they still have a Trump clone running the country.
And here we are blithely pretending that this Pandemic isn’t a problem? And politicians mostly Republican governors, are crowing about ‘opening back up for business as usual?’ Are they stupid or just so frightened of what’s coming they can’t function properly because their (if they had any in the first place) critical thinking skills have shorted out?
This is insane. I mean, really, how else can it be described?
I’m surrounded by people not wearing masks, have been the entire year. This rural mountain area didn’t get hit hard by it so it wasn’t ‘really’ a problem. People here, including friends of mine; one that WORKS AS A SCHOOL HEAD SECRETARY, say they are going to refuse to get vaccinated and I keep asking them how many kids do they know that have gone down with Polio lately, or how many of their family has died of Smallpox Virus this last year? They look at me like they don’t know any history, total blank uncomprehending faces…
Oh wait they DON’T know any history and don’t care to! Smallpox was beaten and Polio Myelitis is only found in two countries on the planet now, Pakistan and Afghanistan. And without all the miracle modern medical tech of ERs, ventilators, and all the rest that has been invented in the last hundred years the death rate in this country would be in the millions. Like 1918, 50 to 100 millions dead by 1920 around the world.
Madness. And those of us paying attention will pay for it along with those that aren’t. The politicians are incredibly afraid of economic collapse which is not funny but bullshit ‘stimulus’ checks that don’t cover a month’s worth of bills for anybody are worse than a joke when the politicians give trillions to the wealthy and their corporations because…well, like Wbush said, too big to fail, right? You and I are NOT too big to fail. Who cares? They really don’t and they’ve proved it with their actions. Why do they lie so much? Read this link:
U.S. Authorities Pay No Price for Acknowledged Lying
What’s the Impact on Us?
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/03/28/u-s-authorities-pay-no-price-for-acknowledged-lying/
_______
I had a phone call yesterday saying I am now (finally) eligible for the vaccine. Probably the Pfizer as that’s what I’ve been hearing. Things are a bit slower up here on the Canadian Border with that I guess…
Most of the world has no access to vaccines but Cuba, who is NOT troubled with for-profit corporate behemoths that are only interested in how much they can make (and of course their ‘bonus’) has come out with FIVE different vaccines! Tiny island of hated troublemakers make the US look like pansies. I’ll bet that isn’t going down well in DC, eh? Don’t expect to hear this on the nightly corporate news report:
Cuba Libre to be COVID-Libre: Five Vaccines and Counting…
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/03/30/cuba-libre-to-be-covid-libre-five-vaccines-and-counting/
Time to make the call for the appointment…best hang up the dail-up internet so I can use my phone…
sealintheSelkirks