The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC has warned that the second wave of COVID-19 could be more devastating. A resurgence of the virus next winter could hit the health care system of the United States even harder because it coincides with the start of the flu season.
The flu season is responsible for thousands of deaths in America every year, and if the coronavirus emerges during the same season, the country's health care system will likely be more overwhelmed and supplies may be more scarce than it has been during the coronavirus outbreak.
Coronavirus and the flu season will be twice as deadly
CDC Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post on April 21 that there is a possibility that the assault of the virus in America next winter will be even more difficult than the one that the country is going through right now. This is because the flu pandemic and the coronavirus pandemic will happen at the same time.
The first wave of COVID-19, the disease that is caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, has already killed more than 47,000 people in America since the first known case was reported in January. The coronavirus outbreak has overwhelmed hospitals and the health care system and it revealed massive shortages of test kits and personal protective equipment like gowns, gloves, shields, and masks for health care workers and those in the front lines.
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Flu season in the US
The flu season in America peaks between December and February and it creates a strain on the U.S health care system every year, but fortunately, the epidemic arrived toward the end of the flu season. According to the estimates of CDC, the flu killed almost 32,000 Americans in the 2018-2019 flu season and it resulted in half a million hospitalizations. If the flu season had peaked at the same time as the coronavirus pandemic, ti could have been really difficult in terms of health care capacity.
According to scientists, a coronavirus vaccine is likely to be available in 12 to 18 months, and the only way to prevent the virus to spread more and infect more people is by doing other actions and protocols advised by WHO and the CDC.
Redfield stated that federal and state officials must continue to push for social distancing, especially now that more businesses and public spaces are reopening. Social distancing has had a massive impact on the outbreak in America since the pandemic began and it will hold true until the vaccines for the virus are accessible.
Redfield also added that the country needs to scale up testing and contact tracing so that new coronavirus cases can be identified immediately before they become larger outbreaks. He also said that U.S health officials must spend the summer months persuading American citizens about the importance of getting flu shots in the fall in order to minimize the number of flu-related hospitalizations.
Getting a flu vaccination, especially this year, can help the health care system from being overwhelmed. It can also leave more room for coronavirus patients in the hospitals.
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