Following the criminal fall that left hospitals heavy, there has been a decline in new cases of coronavirus in some Midwestern states. However, signs of improvement are offset by the accelerating spread of the virus on both coasts: In California, officials made efforts to distribute body bags and deploy mobile morgues as infections grew at an alarming rate.
In states including Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Nebraska, there has been a decline in the number of people tested for COVID-19 in the past few weeks. However, there is still an alarming number of deaths and hospitalizations due to the previously increased number of cases.
When winter weather drives people to rooms where the virus spreads more easily, there is no guarantee that the improving dynamics can be sustained, doctors and public health officials say.
“We have the vaccine, but that doesn’t change the overall picture,” said Dr. James Lawler of the Omaha World-Herald of the World Health Security Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "Everything can still turn south quite easily."
But he and others are motivated by numbers. In Iowa, for example, the number of new cases of the virus recorded daily over the past two weeks has dropped from nearly 1,800 to about 1,250. In Nebraska, it has dropped from about 1,800 per day to just under 1,300.
"I'm crossing my fingers right now," said Dr. Stacey Marlow, an ambulance doctor at UnityPoint Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa. “The COVID patients I see are very, very sick. But there are ... fewer of them. "
Deaths from the virus in Iowa continued to rise sharply to an average of 79 per day, up from 28 two weeks ago.
the hope, of course, is that a reduction in infections will reduce the number of deaths, but it may take some time. Many of those who are now dying from COVID-19 may have been infected a few weeks ago.
Nationwide, the death toll has exceeded 300,000, with more than 16 million infections confirmed. On average, there are about 2,400 deaths and more than 215,000 new cases per day in the United States. An influential model from the University of Washington says that even with vaccination by April 1, the death toll could reach 502,000.
Lawler said more Nebraska residents are keeping warnings to limit dinners and wear masks in public. He says a number of Nebraska cities have recently handed over mask mandates.
However, he said it was important for non-Brascans to be vigilant about social distance while waiting for vaccines to become widely available in the spring.
Speaking to governors this week, Dr. White House coronavirus working group member dr. Deborah Birx said progress in the Midwest was offset by a "deteriorating situation" on both coasts.
According to the COVID surveillance project, the number of people living with the virus across the country has reached an all-time high of more than 110,000.
Hospitalizations in California now double the length of the summer peak and threaten to overcrowd the system, Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. The supply of beds in intensive care units is declining, with an average of more than 31,000 new cases per day. State officials distribute 5,000 body bags, mostly to the affected Los Angeles and San Diego areas, and 60 refrigerated trailers standing like temporary morgues awaiting deaths from the coronavirus.
In Orange County, health officials said they intended to send large tents to four hospitals to help handle patient cases.
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“We have reached a number of cases that exceeds all previous records,” said Van Do-Reynoso, director of public health at Santa Barbara County. “It is imperative that everyone take action now and stay at home. We are reaching a point where we can see on the horizon that our healthcare system is overcrowded. ”
In New York, officials stopped eating at restaurants on Monday as the number of infections continued to rise. State and city officials have warned that a wider shutdown may be needed if things get worse.
“We can’t let this virus keep growing, especially at a time when we’re finally getting the vaccine and we can turn it around the corner,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
There were about 370 coronavirus patients in intensive care in the city this week, three times more than a month ago, but a fraction of the more than 3,100 patients who filled the ICU in April. Across the state, the number of new confirmed cases has increased from approximately 6,500 per day to more than 10,100 in the past two weeks.
In New Jersey, the increase in new officials from about 4,000 a day at the end of November to an average of 4,900 has raised concerns among officials and health care providers. However, the dynamics are very different from last spring’s crisis.
“People are still dying from the disease, but certainly not in the numbers we saw back then,” Dr said. John Bonamo, Chief Hospital Operator RWJ Barnabas Health, Medical.
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