PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) – The deadliest month to date for the coronavirus outbreak in the United States ended with some signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations plummet, while vaccinations increase.
The question is whether the nation can stay ahead of the rapidly spreading virus mutations.
The death toll in the United States has exceeded 440,000, with more than 95,000 lives lost in January alone. Deaths run about 3,150 a day on average, slightly down about 200 from mid-January.
But as the schedule returned to February Monday, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 fell below 100,000 for the first time in two months. New cases of infection average about 148,000 days, from nearly a quarter of a million in mid-January. And cases are on the decline in all 50 states.
“While the recent drop in hospital cases and admissions is encouraging, it contrasts with the stark reality that in January we recorded the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in any month since the pandemic began,” the Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths do not move perfectly up or down with the infection curve. They are a lagging indicator, because people can take a few weeks to get sick and die from COVID-19.
Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist at Boston College, said vaccines are a factor in the sharp drop in cases, but they are not the main cause. Instead, he said, the crisis has become “depoliticized” more and more in recent weeks as more people commit to the threat and how they can help curb the spread of the virus.
“I don’t think the importance of this cultural change can be underestimated. I think it’s very important, “he said.
After a slow start, the momentum of vaccination that began in mid-December is picking up pace. According to the CDC, more than 32.2 million doses have been administered in the United States. That exceeds the 16.5 million the day President Joe Biden took office, on January 20th.
The number of shots fired during the week and a half since Biden took office has averaged about 1.3 million a day, well above the president’s usual stated target of 1 million a day. . More than 5.9 million Americans have received the necessary doses, the CDC said.
However, the CDC reported Monday that many nursing home workers do not receive the shot when first-time doses are offered.
The researchers examined more than 11,000 nursing homes and other such facilities that had at least one vaccination clinic between mid-December and mid-January. Although 78% of residents received at least one shot, only 37.5% of staff members. Surveys suggest that some nursing home workers are skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccines and do not believe that viruses spread easily to the people they care for.
Three mutated variants of the virus have been detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil in the United States. The British spread more easily and is thought to be more deadly, but the one in South Africa is causing even more concern due to early indications that vaccines may not be as protective against it.
The more the virus spreads, the more chances it has to mutate.
Walensky urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as shots are fired and stressed that it is not time to relax basic precautions, such as putting on masks.
Meanwhile, a snowstorm forced Monday to close many vaccination sites in the northeast, including New York City and Connecticut.
And the plan to reopen Chicago schools to approximately 62,000 students for the first time since March was in doubt. Last-minute negotiations on COVID-19 security measures with the teachers ’union stalled, increasing the possibility of a strike or blockade if educators do not show up for work.
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Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Marilynn Marchione, Sophia Tareen, Bill Kole and Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.