US coronavirus USA: Cases Increase In South And West As Crowded Protests Raise Concerns

In total, USA USA It has more than 1.8 million cases and more than 106,000 deaths, both by far most of any country in the world.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the coronavirus could spread in protests depending on factors such as wearing masks, how close people gathered and how long people stayed in close contact.

“I think it’s fair to say there will be an impact,” said Gupta on Wednesday.

“It’s a contagious virus. People who are outside, people who wear masks, people who move with each other more quickly can reduce the likelihood of significant exponential growth. But that’s still the concern.”

For example, Oklahoma state soccer player Amen Ogbongbemiga said in a tweet Tuesday that he tested positive for Covid-19 after attending a protest.

“After attending a protest in Tulsa AND protecting myself well, I tested positive for COVID-19,” Ogbongbemiga tweeted. “Please, if you’re going to protest, take care of yourself and stay safe.”

The virus has particularly impacted African Americans, who represent a disproportionate percentage of Covid-19 cases and deaths.

What will stop the virus and what will not

As we enter the sixth month of the virus, public health officials are seeing more clearly what is preventing the virus from spreading and what is not.

For one thing, the combination of identification, isolation, and quarantine contact textbooks helped stop the possible spread of the coronavirus at an Air Force basic training ground. Military medics said their approach maintained the case count in just five out of 10,000 recruits at the San Antonio-Lackland Joint Base in Texas in March and April.

The base used techniques that include quarantine, social distancing, early detection of trainees, rapid isolation and monitored re-entry to delay transmission, the researchers said in a report released Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA

“As of March 17, all new recruits were segregated upon arrival for a two-week arrival quarantine in an area of ​​the base separate from the main apprentice cohort,” wrote Dr. Joseph Marcus of the Brooke Army Medical Center and colleagues in their report. . “In addition, all students were instructed to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from each other to ensure social distancing.”

In April, the use of facial coatings became mandatory. The strategies implemented at the base meant that the infection rate was significantly lower than that of other community living settings, such as homeless shelters.

“Climate would only become a major seasonal factor in the control of COVID-19 once a large proportion of people within a given community are immune or resistant to infection,” Collins wrote, citing transmission experts. infectious diseases and climate models.

“Obviously we will have to wait a few months to get the data. But for now, many researchers have their doubts that the COVID-19 pandemic will enter a necessary summer hiatus,” he added.

Dr. Fauci optimistic about the vaccine

The United States should have 100 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate by the end of the year, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a member of the White House coronavirus special force. . he said Tuesday.

“Then in early 2021, we expect to have a couple hundred million doses,” Fauci said during a live question-and-answer session with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

It is still unclear whether the vaccine will be effective against the new coronavirus. Still, Fauci expressed optimism that one of the many vaccine trials would be successful.

“I am cautiously optimistic that with the multiple candidates we have with different platforms, that we are going to have a vaccine that makes it deployable,” Fauci said.