ATLANTA (AP) – The daily average of new daily coronavirus cases in the United States has fallen below 100,000 in recent days for the first time in months, but experts warned Sunday that infections remain high and need to be maintained. precautions to curb the pandemic.
The continued average of seven new infections was well above 200,000 for much of December and reached about 250,000 in January, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as the pandemic roared again after having been domesticated in some places in the summer.
That average fell below 100,000 on Friday for the first time since Nov. 4. It remained below 100,000 on Saturday.
“We are still in about 100,000 cases a day. We are still about 1,500 to 3,500 dead a day. The cases are more than double what we saw over the summer, “Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC’s” Meet the Press. “It’s encouraging to see these trends go down, but they come from an extraordinarily high place. “
On Saturday, the average seven-day death toll was about 2,500. That number peaked at more than 3,300 earlier in the winter, according to Johns Hopkins.
The United States saw an increase of more than 5,400 deaths on Friday, nearly half of Ohio, where authorities said earlier in the week that they planned to add deaths to the state account for a few days after discovering until 4,000 COVIDs not reported. -19 fatalities.
Walensky added that the new variants, including one first detected in the UK that appear to be more transmissible and have already been registered in more than 30 states, are likely to cause more cases and more deaths.
“It’s all really wrapped up in that we can’t lower our guard,” he said. “We must continue to wear masks. We need to continue with our current mitigation measures. And we need to keep getting vaccinated as soon as it’s available.
The United States has reported more than 27.5 million cases of viruses and more than 484,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
With parents and political leaders eager to bring children across the country back to school to learn in person, it’s important that people continue to observe precautions, Walensky said.
“We need to take responsibility for everyone to reduce this outreach in the community, including putting on masks to get our children and our society back,” he said.
The CDC released guidelines Friday outlining the mitigation strategies needed to reopen schools or keep them open.
Some teachers have expressed concern about returning to the classroom without having been vaccinated, but the guidelines do not say it is necessary. Dr. Anthony Fauci told “This Week” on ABC that it would be “optimal” if teachers were vaccinated, but that other measures set out in the 24-page document could reduce their risk.
“Practically speaking, when you balance the benefits of returning children to school with the fact that the risks are being mitigated, if you follow the recommendations and these new CDC guidelines, hopefully I think it will alleviate concerns on both sides. “, he said.
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