Coronavirus deaths could be doubled, US to face calamity: Expert warns
As Christmas is nearing, authorities expect a drastic surge in coronavirus positive cases in the United States.
By Nirmal Narayanan
PM Narendra Modi reviewed the development of COVID-19 vaccine candidate ZyCOV-D in Ahmedabad.
The novel coronavirus that apparently originated from Wuhan, China is showing no signs of slowing down, and in the United States, it is wreaking havoc like a perfect storm with no end in near sight. As Thanksgiving week is coming to an end, several experts believe that the pandemic situation in the United States will be worsened in the coming weeks.
Rising positive cases worry experts
Since November 1, the United States has been witnessing a drastic rise in coronavirus cases, and most of the days in this month recorded daily positive cases of more than 1,50,000. On November 27, 1,67,000 positive cases were reported in the US, and the death count was 1,352.
The daily average in the week to Friday was more than 166,000, a count which is 2.5 times higher than the summer peak counts in last July.
Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency medicine physician and a visiting professor at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health urged people to be on guard and warned that the country is heading towards a calamity.
"We cannot let our guard down. The vaccines will make a big difference in the spring and the summer; they're not going to make a difference right now. If anything, we are rounding the corner into a calamity. We're soon going to exceed well more than 2,000 deaths, maybe 3,000, 4,000 deaths every single day here in the US," Wen told CNN Friday Night.
Death toll to be doubled in the US
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University had also shared similar views recently. According to Reiner, the country's COVID-19 death toll could get doubled within ten days, and the daily deaths may cross 4,000.
Shockingly, in November alone, the country has recorded more than four million coronavirus positive cases, which represents almost 30 percent of the country's total of 13.6 million cases.
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