Chinanews.com, January 16. According to the British "Guardian" report on the 15th local time, recently, due to the arrival of holidays, lax epidemic prevention mentality and continuous mutation of the new crown virus, the new crown epidemic has once again swept the United States, causing a drop in the number of cases. surge.
However, preventive measures such as wearing masks and vaccinating are still effective.
Data map: A new crown virus testing station on 14th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA, tests residents.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
Analysis shows that the surge in cases in the United States this time is one of the fastest surges during the entire epidemic, but it has not yet reached its peak.
In the past week, the number of deaths from the new crown epidemic rose by 44%, from 2,705 in the week ended January 4 to 3,907 in the week ended January 11.
Brandon Williams, president of the New Hampshire Healthcare Association, said hospitals are currently at maximum capacity.
"It is impossible to determine the trajectory of this surge, but it is very concerning," he said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the Omicron subvariants BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 and the fast-spreading XBB.1.5 cause most infections.
Data show that more than 80% of cases in the northeastern United States are caused by the XBB.1.5 strain.
The XBB.1.5 strain has attracted attention due to its extremely high transmissibility and ability to evade certain antibodies.
Experts said measures such as vaccination with the bivalent new crown vaccine, wearing masks, ventilating, and taking antiviral drugs are still effective in curbing the spread of the epidemic.
However, Neil Segal, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, said that the vaccination rate of vaccine boosters in the United States is "patheticly low" and the use rate of antiviral drugs is also very low.
Facing a winter surge, U.S. regulations on masks, vaccines and testing have barely returned, putting enormous strain on the healthcare system.
Stewart Ray, a professor of medicine and infectious disease at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said booster shots, especially the upgraded bivalent booster shots, have been very effective in reducing the risk of serious illness and death.
However, according to statistics, only 15.4% of Americans over the age of five have received upgraded booster shots.
"If people get vaccinated in time, some serious cases could be avoided, at least to some extent, because vaccination is still the safest way to gain immunity," Ray said. Repeated exposure to COVID-19 increases the risk of short- and long-term complications, including cardiovascular disease, mental health problems, and more.
According to the report, many Americans may not even realize that the number of cases in the United States is surging due to inaccurate information conveyed by officials.
In the face of a new round of epidemics, people still need to take corresponding preventive measures.