Across the United States, cases are reducing in the first Covid hit states. The numbers are starting to reduce and this new development has given a glimmer of hope to the country. But that doesn’t apply to other regions of the country.
Omicron Surge May Hit New Numbers; Next Few Weeks Can Be Tough
In some parts of the country like New York, North East, it can be observed that cases are declining, said US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. He added that some parts of the country were hit by Omicron sooner and in other parts, it took a while. The problem with this is, the entire country is moving at a different pace. So, in some parts of the country, the next few weeks could be tough.
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University, nearly 750,000 new covid cases are being reported every day in America. At this rate, the risk of exposure to covid is high. The people going to work, schools, or elsewhere remain the high possibility of getting infected by Omicron. As per the data by Johns Hopkins University, around 1,800 citizens of America are dying every day from Covid.
The death toll is increasing across the state. Around 156,000 people were hospitalized with Covid this Sunday, according to data released by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Though some parts of the country show declining cases, the situation in other parts keeps worsening. Hospitals are running out of beds to admit patients in intensive care units.
With staff shortages, hospitals are finding it hard to treat every patient with equal care. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health said that the numbers might increase in upcoming days, and as hospitals are facing staff shortage it can be expected, the next few weeks will be tough and numbers might hit new peaks.
As the US is fighting Omicron, some states are struggling to keep schools open. Most schools have increased safety measures to prevent remote learning. Public schools in Chicago have started in-person classes last week, schools have increased their testing and provided students with high-quality KN95 masks. Schools will remain open and the tools required for that to happen is plenty, said Health Experts.
The government has taken initiative to let people order free covid test kits through a website – covidtests.gov. Nearly one billion tests are available and each household is limited to four tests for now. Health Centers were provided with 500 million tests and people with insurance can get up to eight tests in a month.
Even with the enormous availability of test kits, some areas have scammers taking advantage of the lack of testing availability. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has asked people to be careful about pop-up testing sites that charge fees, do not have a logo, do not disclose the lab, or ask for personal and sensitive information, like social security number, which is unnecessary.
A new isolation protocol released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention states that people who are affected with covid-19 can end their isolation period after 5 days if they do not show any symptoms, and they are asked to wear a mask for another five more days.
CDC said it is best to test themselves at the end of the isolation period and also added that it is not necessary for the results to show negative to end the isolation period. Nathan Grubaugh with Yale School of Public Health said that an isolation period of 5 days should include negative test results by the end, if not isolation should be extended
