The recent dip in infections, as well as the decline in hospitalizations in the United States, is good news, but public health officials are warning that now is not the time to let down our guard.
That’s largely because of new variants circulating in the US, putting the country once again in the “eye of the hurricane,” according to one expert, according to CNN.
The U.S. reported just under 87,000 new coronavirus cases for Sunday, while overall, more than 27 million people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the pandemic began, accounting for 25 percent of all confirmed cases worldwide, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Hospitalizations have also fallen, with 81,439 recorded as of Sunday, marking the 26th consecutive daily decline, according to the Covid Tracking Project. That number is now down to 81,439 as of Monday morning.
The U.S. also reported its lowest daily death toll from the disease since the beginning of the year. The country added more than 1,200 fatalities to the death toll, bringing the total to more than 463,483, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Spread of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 in the U.S.
Close to 700 cases of Covid-19 variants first spotted in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been reported in the US so far, according to data updated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And the spread of the UK variant, B.2.2.7, is of particular concern. The number of cases of this highly contagious variant doubles every week and a half, according to a study posted online Sunday. So far, the variant has been identified in 33 states.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN Sunday that “This could be really, very dire for our country as we head into the spring. Now, we’re in a race. We’re in a race to see how quickly we can vaccinate the American people.”
The research, conducted by a group of academic and industry scientists, was posted on a preprint server and hasn’t been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal.
“Our study shows that the U.S. is on a similar trajectory as other countries where B.1.1.7 rapidly became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, requiring immediate and decisive action to minimize COVID-19 morbidity and mortality,” is the conclusion of the researchers.