The number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the United States is rapidly declining, but the burden remains enormous, and the nation's healthcare personnel are weary as a result.
According to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, less than 100,000 hospital beds are in use for patients with COVID-19 for the first time in more than a month.
WHO Chief Says COVID-19 is Not Yet Finish
In comparison to just a few weeks ago, when COVID-19 hospitalizations reached a peak of almost 160,000 beds in use at one time, this is a decrease of 38%. Despite the good signs, the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventive head, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, believes it's still too soon to lift COVID-19 prevention limitations and modify guidelines.
She stated during a White House COVID-19 Response Team meeting on Wednesday that hospitalizations are an essential gauge, especially at the local level where choices are made. Although current hospitalizations are lower than they were during the pandemic's height during the Delta and first winter surges, they are still higher than they were over the remainder of the pandemic's duration.
With 61 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 persons, West Virginia has the highest current hospitalization rate. That's twice as much as the national average and four times as many as in Vermont, where there are only around 15 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, according to CNN.
"COVID isn't through with us," the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief said during the launch of the WHO's ACT-Accelerator campaign for global parity in COVID-19 testing, treatments, vaccines, and personal protective equipment on Wednesday, despite dropping daily case rates around the world.
They came after the agency's weekly epidemiological report, which indicated that COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased by 17% in the week between January 31 and February 6, compared to the previous week. The organization recorded 19 million new cases of COVID-19 and slightly about 68,000 additional fatalities over that period.
According to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University, the worldwide case rates were dropping by 50% in the United States, which had a record high of 1,369,637 daily cases on Jan. 10 last month. The WHO analysis also verified that the omicron variation of COVID-19 was the world's most prevalent COVID-19 strain, accounting for roughly 97 percent of all cases reported in the last 30 days through the GISAID worldwide virus-tracking network, The Hill reported.
Fauci: US Exiting "Full-Blown" Pandemic Phase
Meanwhile, President Biden's main medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said in a Tuesday interview that the US is virtually out of the "full-blown" phase of the coronavirus pandemic. He anticipates that virus-related restrictions will be lifted in the coming months.
The Financial Times interviewed Fauci on his theory on the virus's path. According to the newspaper, the government's reaction to the sickness will finally be handled on a local level rather than on a national level. Although he did not specify a certain month or season, he told the publication that the limitations, which included the wearing of masks, maybe lifted "soon."
"We are looking at a moment when we have enough individuals vaccinated and enough people with protection from the previous infection that the COVID-19 limits will soon be a thing of the past," Fauci told the publication, adding that it may not be necessary for all Americans to be boosted in the future, as per Fox News.
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