Is US Failing on Covid?
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The director of the National Institute of Health says that the United States is "failing" in its fight against Coronavirus, citing the greatest daily death rate in the last six months.
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Passengers on a train in Chicago wearing masks to prevent getting COvid-19 (AFP)
The director of the National Institute of Health, Francis Collins said on Sunday that the United States is failing in its fight against the corona pandemic.
The director of the National Institutes of Health Francis Collins remarked on ABC's "This Week" that we should never have gotten to where we are now, and that we are failing in that regard.
A spike in the highly transmissible Delta variant has resulted in a flood of bad news; daily new cases have surged to 118,000, the highest since February.
Moreover, deaths have increased by 89 percent in the last two weeks, despite a global decline, and children's hospitals in states like Florida are "overwhelmed" as more young people are affected.
Fears of the Delta variant have resulted in an increase in vaccination rates. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the vaccinations' safety, millions of people, particularly in conservative regions, remain skeptical.
If we had been more effective in getting everyone vaccinated, we would not be in the situation we are now with the Delta variant, Collins said, adding, "Now we're paying a horrible price."
In the meantime, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Anthony Fauci, pointed to possible final approval of key vaccines from the federal Food and Drug Administration this month - something some skeptics have said they need to hear.
"I hope that it's within the month of August," Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease told NBC's "Meet the Press."
The director warned that if the Delta variant was not controlled, another variant may emerge that would be much more dangerous than Delta.
However, children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccines, and Collins reported that the number of children hospitalized with Covid has risen to 1,450, an all-time high. In addition, in the midst of a fresh controversy about mask use, Collins stated that if students returning to traditional schools are not forced to wear masks, "this illness will spread much farther."
Furthermore, he added that it will most likely result in outbreaks in schools, forcing children to return to remote learning, which is exactly what we want to avoid.
Even asymptomatic children can spread Covid-19, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. Children 2 years and older should wear masks in public indoor settings, including schools, according to the CDC.
Big companies in the United States continue to enforce a rigorous health policy that includes mandating Corona vaccinations for its employees.
