Covid-19 case rates are declining nationwide, but rising in these five states

CNN

Aya Elamroussi and Holly Yan, CNN

The big picture of Covid-19 in the United States It looks a little brighter as new infections and hospitalizations decrease.

“That’s good news, and hopefully it will continue to move downwards,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

“But in many ways we need to be careful not to declare victory prematurely. There are still about 68 million people who have not been vaccinated and are eligible to be vaccinated,” Fauci said on Sunday. I told you.

“If you look at the history of cases spikes and declines over a period of time, they can bounce back.”

Incidence of new Covid-19 cases was reduced or relatively stable compared to last week in 45 states, according to Johns Hopkins University data on Saturday.

Five states, Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, saw an increase of at least 10% in new cases last week compared to last week.

In Michigan, a doctor in the emergency room said his hospital was still overwhelmed by patients.

“I had a couple of shifts in a row, with six or seven people sitting in the emergency department waiting for a bed in another non-existent hospital,” Dr. Rob Davidson said on Saturday.

He said some ambulances were “six or seven hours away before they were able to carry them to their location.”

Approximately 52% of Michigan’s population is fully vaccinated, below the national average of 56.4%, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday.

“Still too expensive”

The new Covid-19 cases are “going in the right direction. There are less than 100,000 cases per day,” Fauci said on Sunday.

However, about 95,000 new infections are reported daily in the United States, which is “still too high,” he said.

“I hope it’s well below 10,000 and much lower,” Fauci said. “But when you are at 95,000, it’s a situation where you have a high degree of dynamic circulation of the virus.”

Last week’s data from Johns Hopkins University show that daily Covid-19 deaths have declined in recent weeks, with an average of more than 1,600 Americans dying from Covid-19.

Death is not the only terrible result of Covid-19

It’s important for people to understand that “it’s great not to die in Covid, but that’s not the only indicator we should use.”

He said in his hospital that some Covid-19 patients had been on ventilator for over a month and some had endured invasive procedures to stay alive.

According to Davidson, some Covid-19 survivors suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of the time spent in the ICU, even if they recover physically.

A study published in February was found 30% of Covid-19 survivors experienced PTSD, This is a mental illness that usually occurs after someone has had a life-threatening experience.

Negative effects were seen on people and babies infected late in pregnancy.

Between March and September last year, a symptomatic pregnant woman in an Israeli hospital had a high incidence of gestational diabetes, a low white blood cell count, and experienced heavy bleeding during childbirth. Their babies also experienced more breathing problems, the research team reported to the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine.

This study is limited because it targets only women in one hospital, and the results may not apply to all pregnant people.

Then there’s the long Covid — symptoms can last months after infection.

NS Large-scale study published last month More than one-third of Covid-19 patients have shown to suffer from symptoms 3 to 6 months after infection. Some had multiple, long-term complications.

Among the most common problems reported were abdominal symptoms such as breathing problems, abdominal pain, diarrhea, malaise, pain, anxiety, and depression.

The accompanying data is shown Forty-six percent of children aged 10 to 22 and young adults experienced at least one symptom in 6 months. After recovery.

“Press the reset button,” says evangelical Christians at the highest health authorities.

Recent research by the Pew Research Center White evangelical Protestants were one of the least likely Adults to be vaccinated.

The director of the National Institutes of Health, who admits to being an evangelical Christian, said it was time to change that.

“Christians should be particularly worried about their neighbors, of all,” Dr. Francis Collins told CNN on Saturday.

He said unvaccinated people are more likely to get infected and spread the coronavirus to others.

But for some reason, many evangelical Christians “often have many problems, such as rolling up their sleeves,” Collins said.

“It is much of this disinformation that is so widespread on the Internet that I think it has confused and scared many people about what vaccination could do to them.” Said Collins.

“Still, it’s really painful to see that more than 1000 people die (every day) from the disease and almost all haven’t been vaccinated so it didn’t have to happen,” he said. rice field.

“If you are a Christian, or someone who has not yet been vaccinated, press the reset button for the information that is causing suspicion, hesitation, or fear to examine the evidence.”

Vaccines for children under the age of 5 may not come until next year

Children under the age of five may not be licensed for the Covid-19 vaccine until early next year, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner, on Sunday.

The FDA is likely to seek more data and perhaps more child studies because of the new vaccine and new virus, Gottlieb told CBS’s Face the Nation.

“And that could push it forward in 2022. Previously, children at least 2-4 years old could probably get approval by the end of the year, making that data available by the end of the year. We were talking about what to do, at least I think it’s likely to be in the first quarter of next year, but not too far next year, “said Gottlieb, Pfizer’s board member.

On October 26, the FDA convened a meeting of the Independent Vaccine Advisor, Vaccine and Related Biopharmaceutical Advisory Board (VRBPAC), to discuss pediatric vaccines. Pfizer has submitted data on a one-third dose vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11 years and a formal request for approval. But Gottlieb said he hopes VRBPAC will also discuss what it takes to approve the youngest children.

More information to consider can increase public confidence in the vaccine, Gottlieb said. He is already confident and plans to vaccinate his young daughter.

“Many parents like me understand the benefits of vaccination because vaccines available to their children are coming soon and they are trying to get their children vaccinated,” he said. rice field. “Many parents are still asking a lot of questions about vaccination. I think they should talk to a pediatrician to get used to the idea of ​​vaccination of their children.”

Gottlieb said he believes it will take years before the CDC recommends that the Covid-19 vaccine be part of the usual childhood vaccination schedule.

“I think it’s a very long way to go. Indeed, the CDC intends to look at children aged 12 to 17 differently than they do,” he said.

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CNN’s Maggie Fox, Ben Tinker, Lauren Mascarenhas, Jacqueline Howard, and Keith Allen contributed to this report.