August 13, 2020, a lab technician sorts blood samples for a
COVID-19 vaccination study at the Research Centers of America in
Hollywood, Florida. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
The United States has set a third straight daily record
for new Covid-19 infections, notching more than 127,000 cases, John
Hopkins University reported Friday.
And the death toll as of 8:30 pm (0130 GMT) over the past 24
hours was 1,149, the Baltimore-based university said.
The outbreak has been surging for weeks across the country, with
the Midwest worst-hit even as the number of new diagnoses were
approaching springtime levels in the south, northeast and west.
While deaths remain far lower than the peak in
spring, Friday was also the fourth day in a row that
fatalities were above 1,000. The last time people were dying
of Covid-19 at that rate in the US was early September.
As of Friday evening, the US — the worst hit country in the
world in terms of deaths and total cases — had more than 236,000
coronavirus-related fatalities and 9.7 million known
infections.
Cases are expected to increase as the country moves into colder
weather and people switch to socializing primarily indoors, prime
conditions for passing the virus from person to person.
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Colder, drier weather might also play a role in creating
favorable conditions for the virus to linger in air and on
surfaces.
Reasons that deaths are down from their peak include the fact
that as cases are more spread out geographically than they were at
the start of the US epidemic, hospitals are better able to
cope with the caseload.
Doctors have also learned how to better treat severe cases of
Covid-19 — by placing patients on their stomachs, avoiding
the use of ventilators where possible and using them on
low-pressure settings if they are required, and, perhaps most
crucially, using steroids such as dexamethasone to tamp down a
destructive autoimmune response known as a cytokine storm.
Since a greater proportion of people getting infected are
younger, they are also less likely to develop severe forms of the
disease.
Two vaccine makers, Moderna and Pfizer, say they might be ready
to apply for emergency use authorizations towards the end of the
month.
But if and when vaccines do become available, they’re only
expected to be moderately effective, meaning that people will need
to continue to adhere to masking, social distancing and hand
hygiene to bring an end to the pandemic.
AFP
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