Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, stated that the United States may witness the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and pleaded with people to not let down their guards. The CDC director said everyone must continue to observe health and safety protocols even in the face of receiving COVID-19 vaccines in order to eliminate the deadly virus in record time.
“I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” Walensky said. “We do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge. I’m speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer. We are just almost there, but not quite yet.”
Walensky made it clear that behavioral restraints and health protocols must balance the speed with which vaccines are rolling out, adding that every hand must be on deck to reduce the transmission of the disease and eliminate it from the US and ultimately in every country of the world. According to the government health official, a fourth wave of the pandemic will slow down the current rate of vaccination and that will not bode well with everyone, Bloomberg reports.
According to health experts, the current upsurge in COVID-19 cases is due to the aggressive spread of the COVID-19 variants in Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and other states of the country. Meanwhile, the reopening of businesses and loosening of travel restrictions also contribute to the rise in infection cases, and Walensky made it clear that reopening the country on a massive scale is a tard premature.
“I think the reason we’re seeing this plateauing and the increase that I hope doesn’t turn into a surge is that we are really doing things prematurely right now with regard to opening up,” she stated.
NIAID director Anthony Fauci also urged Americans to not be deceived by the warm weather into letting down their guards, and he encouraged everyone to observe health protocols in order to safeguard the health of individuals, families, and communities as a whole. Meanwhile, Walensky revealed she will be addressing state governors on the need to tighten up on health measures so that the new variants of the coronavirus may be defeated sooner than later.
As it stands, the 7-day daily average for new infections is now 59,773 against that of the previous week while the 7-day daily average deaths are now 968. According to health officials, 72% of people above the age of 65 have gotten the first dose, if not the second, of vaccines; but younger folks with underlying health conditions are said to remain susceptible to the pandemic.
Source: axios.com
