Amidst the covid surge, some states in the United States show reduced covid positive cases. The areas which were hit first by the Omicron variant have been found to be showing fewer cases, this wave is coming to an end.
Is The Third Wave Nearing Its End? Early Hit States Show Declining Cases
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has reported 800,000 cases per day on an average this week. This is said to be three times more than last winter’s covid mark. But as a glimmer of hope in some early hit states, especially on the East coast, cases were found to be reducing. Governor Kathy Hochul said that covid’s end is not so far, the end is not any sooner but it’s almost time and we all have waited long for that.
In New York, cases have been found to be declining after hitting nearly 85,000 cases per day. At the start of this year, the number of cases almost doubled in just seven days. But now the cases have declined by nearly 30,000, marking a drop of nearly 31 percent.
In the chart of states with high numbers of covid positive cases, New York fell from 2nd position to 15th position and New Jersey fell from 5th to 20th position marking a drop of 32 percent in average daily cases in a week. Washington D.C. had the highest number of infections in late December, now the cases have dropped by 17 percent. The Case is Maryland had marked a drop by 27 percent.
Dr. Khalilah Gates, assistant Dean of medical education at North Western University Feinberg School of Medicine talked about reducing cases and the stabilization of hospitals. According to the Department of Health and Human Services data, the average covid positive cases has dropped enormously, the patients hospitalized have gone up by 4 percent a week, it is very less compared to the 30 percent increase two weeks back.
Cases are declining in early hit countries like South Africa and the United Kingdom, which clearly shows indication that the United States has come out of its peak infection days. As per data, cases in South Africa have declined by 80 percent and cases in the United Kingdom have declined by 42 percent. As Americans had different levels of exposure, varying vaccination rates, and underlying health problems.
It is not so sure that, the United States will have a massive decline in cases like other countries. Cases are rising in the majority of states in the United States, and the perfect total number of cases remains unclear because of the availability of take-home test kits, cases that tested positive aren’t reported to the state.
Even though cases seem to be declining in western states, it still recorded a 14% rise last week. Health experts predict that by the end of February or March the total cases would be relatively low, and the Omicron wave will fall almost as fast as it rose. But there exists the possibility of another hit by a new variant, but people would have increased immunity because of this surge.
By March, the end of this wave can be expected, said Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. It can be seen that the omicron variant doesn’t affect people severely like the delta variant.
While people who didn’t take booster shots have been seen to be more affected than fully vaccinated by omicron, it is safe to say fully vaccinated people contributing to the hike in cases, while unvaccinated are being hospitalized. It can be said, by the end of this wave, people would learn to live with this virus alongside them.
