US Covid deaths hit 500,000 as Fauci warns Americans may still need to wears masks in 2022
THE United States has today reached the grim milestone of 500,000 Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. It comes as the nation’s top virus expert Dr Anthony Fauci warned people will have to be wearing masks well into 2022 in a crisis he described as “historic”. Signs of hope were emerging in the […]
THE United States has today reached the grim milestone of 500,000 Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
It comes as the nation’s top virus expert Dr Anthony Fauci warned people will have to be wearing masks well into 2022 in a crisis he described as “historic”.
Signs of hope were emerging in the roll-out of Covid vaccines and the dropping off of a massive winter spike in infections — but the heavy toll continues to mount in a nation that has reported the most fatalities and cases in the world.
Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” whether he thinks Americans will still need to wear masks next year, Dr Fauci replied: “You know, I think it is possible that that’s the case and, again, it really depends on what you mean by normality.”
He also told NBC: It’s terrible. It is historic. We haven’t seen anything even close to this for well over a hundred years, since the 1918 pandemic of influenza.
“It’s something that is stunning when you look at the numbers, almost unbelievable, but it’s true.”
‘NORMAL LIFE SOME WAY OFF’
After the first Covid-19 death was announced in the United States in February 2020, it took about three months to pass the 100,000 mark, during a first wave that hit New York particularly hard.
But as the outbreak spread across the country, the pace of deaths increased, with the toll jumping from 400,000 in just over a month amid a spike fueled in part by holiday gatherings.
Dr Fauci noted that the number of daily new infections was on a steep decline after peaking in January, but he added normal life may still be some way off.
It’s something that is stunning when you look at the numbers, almost unbelievable, but it’s true
Dr Anthony Fauci
President Joe Biden said last week the program to deliver vaccines into people’s arms is as complicated as the already intense challenges of manufacturing them in huge quantities at speed.
“There has never, ever, ever been a logistical challenge as consequential as what we’re trying to do, but we’re getting it done,” he said.
According to Biden, his goal of administering a million shots a day for a total of 100 million in the first 100 days of his presidency is on track to be easily surpassed.
There is with a current average of 1.7 million vaccinations a day.
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With the US death toll about 500,000, Biden said he did not want to give firm predictions of when the crisis will be curbed.
But he said that 600 million doses — enough to provide the two-dose regimen to most of the country — were expected to be ready by the end of July.
More than 61 million people have received at least one shot of vaccine in the United States, with some 18 million getting the full two doses.
More to follow…
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