Is the U.S. Actually Entering the Pandemic Endgame?
I don't want to jinx anything, but take a second to scroll down to the below map showing the growth or decline of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, and tell me what you see. Lots of green, right? And how about that chart, showing the seven-day average of new cases are at their lowest level since the start of the U.S. outbreak last year? Deaths, which tend to lag behind cases, are falling too.
So is the pandemic over? For many of us in the U.S.—especially the roughly 40% of us who've been fully vaccinated—it's at least starting to feel that way. I ventured into Brooklyn twice this weekend from my home in New Jersey, once for an outdoor gathering with coworkers and again for my first indoor meal with friends in more than a year, and my heart grew three sizes after realizing how psychologically nourishing all that socialization was. If last summer offered something of a break from the non-stop trauma of the pandemic (at least here in the Northeast), this summer is shaping up as the beginning of the post-pandemic era.
That's not to say the coronavirus won't cause more pain before it's well and truly contained. Hundreds of Americans are still dying of COVID-19 every day, and our mass vaccination effort has turned from a sprint to a slog, mostly due to hesitancy. New, localized outbreaks are possible, even likely, especially as new variants continue to emerge. Millions are still processing the grief of losing people, losing their health, or losing their year. And that’s just in the U.S. Abroad, outbreaks in places like India and South America continue to rage, devastating hundreds of thousands of families every day, and reminding those of us in places, like the U.S., where the pandemic appears under control, that there's a risk that our hard-fought gains could easily be erased.
But still, look at these charts. This is a moment to breathe, to reflect, and to try to come to terms with the past year. Maybe even to celebrate: that we're still here, that the pandemic made us face—if not yet change—long standing inequities in our society, and that, with any luck, only by working together can we tackle the hardest challenges we face as a species.
VACCINE TRACKER
About 357.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this afternoon, of which 286.8 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 39.3% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
So far, nearly all of the COVID-19 vaccines in use around the world share one thing in common: they teach our bodies to target the virus' spike protein, which plays a key role in the infection process. But as The Atlanticreports, vaccine makers are now experimenting with other approaches, just in case the virus mutates in a way that reduces spike-based vaccines' efficacy. California-based firm Gritstone Bio, for instance, is looking into a vaccine that works on both spike proteins and two other coronavirus proteins, which could trigger a more thorough immune system response.
Some teens in the U.S., where those between 12 and 17 only recently became eligible for vaccination, are helping their peers get their shot—even if it goes against their parents' wishes, NBC News reports. While most states require a parent or guardian's permission for a minor to be vaccinated, some—including North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, have looser rules. "I am lucky because my parents are pro-vaccine, but there seems to be a lot of teens whose parents are opposed to letting them get vaccinated," Kelly Danielpour, an 18-year-old in Los Angeles who's helping teens get the info they need to change their parents' minds, told NBC.
Japan has opened mass vaccine hubs in Tokyo and Osaka in an urgent bid to vaccinate more residents ahead of this summer's Olympic Games, the Associated Press reports. Only about 2% of Japan's residents are fully vaccinated, while the country is reporting about 5,000 new cases a day. Many residents are calling for the Olympics to be postponed once again, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has shown no indication of doing so. The U.S. State Department today advised Americans to avoid traveling to Japan because of the coronavirus outbreak there, further complicating Olympics planning.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 167.1 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 3.4 million people have died. On May 23, there were 478,141 new cases and 9,813 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here is every country with over 2.5 million confirmed cases:
The theory that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab got something of a boost this weekend, when the Wall Street Journalreported on a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report which found that three scientists at a Wuhan virology laboratory were hospitalized in November 2019 with coronavirus-type symptoms. That timing is significant, as the first known case wasn't reported until Dec. 8 of that year—though the virus was likely circulating in China before it was understood that people were suffering from a novel pathogen. China has repeatedly refuted the "lab leak" hypothesis, and a World Health Organization team recently found that the virus more likely jumped from an animal to a human, meaning it was "zoonotic." Still, some top U.S. officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb, say the virus' origins warrant further investigation.
Even the chance that COVID-19 was zoonotic has caused a dramatic drop in the sale and consumption of wild animals across Asia, according to a new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report. "Nearly 30% of people surveyed across China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the U.S. say they have consumed less wildlife, or stopped consuming wildlife altogether," my colleague Charlie Campbell reports from Shanghai. The falloff, Charlie found, is in part due to new bans on such behavior, but it's also being fueled by a growing public awareness of the health risks associated with wild animals.
On paper, India's coronavirus outbreak appears to be waning—yet the country passed the grim milestone of 300,000 deaths as of this morning, a reminder that looking only at trends can mask the enormous human toll of a given country's outbreak. Moreover, a lack of thorough data reporting means it's impossible to get accurate data about India's situation; some researchers suggest the country has experienced far more devastation than what's reflected in the official numbers.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded more than 33.1 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 589,800 people have died. On May 23, there were 12,853 new cases and 190 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
Remote learning won't be an option this fall in New York City, home to the country's largest school district, mayor Bill de Blasio said on MSNBC's Morning Joe today. "You can't have a full recovery without full strength schools, everyone back sitting in those classrooms, kids learning again," de Blasio said. "So, that's what we're going to have in September." The move is likely to set the tone for other districts across the country who are working on their own fall reopening plans.
Add North Carolina to the list of states offering a variety of incentives for getting vaccinated: starting Wednesday, residents who get vaccinated at one of four sites will get a $25 cash card, the state's Department of Health and Human Services announced today. While the idea is that the card could cover people's transportation costs or make up for lost hourly wages, recipients are free to spend the money as they see fit. People who drive others to the vaccine sites will also get a card.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of May 24, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
There's No Rule Saying a Dog Can't Fight the Coronavirus
Specially trained dogs can sniff out up to 90% of COVID-19 cases, according to researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, CNET reports. Read more here.
Minor Leaguers, Major Hustle
Minor league baseball players can have trouble making ends meet even in the best of times. But they really had to hustle when the pandemic shut down their games (and business), the Wall Street Journal reports. Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
沒有留言:
張貼留言