“There is a strong possibility that many other people will suffer from health problems in the coming weeks,” predicts one expert.
Coronavirus rates in the United States are surpassing previous levels, an unforeseen surge that is leading some fitness experts to say the COVID-19 pandemic is “still ongoing. “
By all measures of the virus, COVID rates are rising rapidly, with notable increases in test positivity, emergency room visits and hospitalizations in general, as well as deaths and wastewater monitoring indicators. What’s worse, only one-fifth of Americans have received the latest round of boosters for coronavirus.
Prices appear to be rising as more people gather for holiday celebrations without taking proper precautions to protect themselves from COVID. Trends related to the virus began to change in early December, just after the Thanksgiving holiday, and rates increased during the week of Dec. 21.
These trends are very likely to continue: A COVID forecasting model estimates that a user attending a holiday gathering of 10 other people has a 1 in 8 chance of being exposed to COVID. For those who traveled on a plane with a hundred other people to get to their delayed vacation destination last month, that chance of exposure increases to a 3 in 4 chance.
“There is a strong possibility that many other people will be in poor health in the coming weeks and not realize it,” Michael Hoerger, a professor at Tulane University School of Medicine, said on NBC’s “The Today Show. ” . about the disease. affair. “Most people don’t stick to CDC data, and their only way to know if we’re in a surge is if they have health problems. “
“The COVID pandemic is still ongoing. It’s still dangerous. … As this new administration comes about, everyone in public health and in public health communication has to be just exceedingly clear” that COVID is still a threat, said Yale School of Public Health biostatistician Jeffrey Townsend, speaking to The Guardian about the rising rates.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s new administration – particularly Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – must heed those warnings.
Kennedy specifically has pushed a number of falsehoods and conspiracy theories relating to coronavirus, including conspiracy theories based on racism. Kennedy once claimed, for example, that COVID targets “Caucasians and Black people” and that the “most immune” people to the virus were “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
Kennedy also peddled the lie that COVID-19 vaccines are harmful and ineffective, despite credible knowledge to the contrary. By spreading those lies, Kennedy and the Trump administration can cause significant harm to the American public.
“If RFK has significant influence over the next administration, it could further erode people’s willingness to catch up on recommended vaccines,” former Surgeon General Jerome Adams said last fall. “I am concerned about the effect this may have on the health of our country, its economy and our global security. »
Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, and is based out of Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on the American people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.