More than 30 states see COVID19 cases increasing
The FDA published a vaccine safety rule that the White House had blocked. Better treatments bring U.S. death rate under 3%, but current model predicts another 150,000 dead within next three months.
With so much swirling around the White House cluster (of COVID cases,) don’t lose sight of what’s really important. A few key points so that you keep everything in context:
The COVID-19 epidemic in the USA is growing, not receding. The trend is upward in more than 30 of the 50 United States.
Several countries that appeared to have controlled COVID-19 earlier in the year now face new surges. These include Spain, France and the United Kingdom, among others.
Because the virus has spread so widely across the USA, even a small percentage of severely ill or deaths amounts to a lot of sick or dead people and devastated families. No other nation has come even close to the USA death toll. The U.S. death rate - 65 deaths per 100,000 people, is among the worst in the world.
Don’t forget that the treatment that the president received is unavailable to anyone else who gets COVID-19, so others do not have the same chances of recovery.
For a discussion on these and other points, listen to my friend Sree Sreenivasan’s daily COVID show. I joined yesterday’s program to discuss what matters now and what each of us needs to do to stay safe and help end the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA. Each day, Sree hosts an informative discussion with newsmakers, eyewitnesses and others who share insights and interesting details.
Meantime, there is some news:
The FDA published new rules that require two months of follow-up after the last vaccine dose in clinical studies before a vaccine could be made widely available. Earlier, the New York Times reported that the White House was blocking the safety rules, which effectively make release of any vaccine before the Nov. 3 election impossible.
The March order to “close” U.S. borders and expel thousands of immigrants, including many going through the asylum process, was made over the objection of CDC scientists. The decision by Vice President Pence on the suggestion of Trump advisor Stephen Miller took advantage of health emergency laws that permit immigration rules otherwise illegal. Public health experts said the move would not significantly reduce COVID-19 risks, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some evidence that prior infection with coronaviruses, such as the ones that cause the common cold, may boost the human body’s immune response to the virus that causes COVID-19, a paper in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports.
The latest Johns Hopkins chart of deaths per 100,000 population:
