“That strain is increasing exponentially. It’s spiking up,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist. “So we are probably right now on a tipping point of another surge.”
And the current rate of vaccinations might not be fast enough to fend off a major B.1.1.7 surge in the coming weeks.
“At 2.9 to 3 million doses of vaccine a day over the next six to 14 weeks, when this surge is likely to happen, is not going to really take care of the problem at all,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Osterholm said the US should take a lesson from Europe, which has struggled with the B.1.1.7 strain after it was first detected in the United Kingdom.
Still hovering at very high numbers
After weeks of declines, new Covid-19 cases have basically plateaued at high levels each day.
On average, more than 60,000 Americans were infected every day over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University. That’s slightly less than the peak of the summer surge, when 67,030 infections were reported on July 20.
The US shouldn’t loosen coronavirus restrictions until daily new cases fall below 10,000, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
“I understand the need to want to get back to normality, but you’re only going to set yourself back if you just completely push aside the public health guidelines — particularly when we’re dealing with anywhere from 55 (thousand) to 70,000 infections per day in the United States,” Fauci said.
Despite health leaders’ warnings, several state leaders announced they were easing Covid-19 restrictions.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled a series of eased restrictions, including expanded capacity for restaurants, retail, gyms, stadiums and other facilities.
In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards also loosened restrictions. The majority of businesses — including restaurants and salons — are now allowed to operate at 75% capacity, while religious services no longer have capacity limits.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said restaurants, bars, gyms and museums could start operating at 100% capacity. Justice also upped the social gathering limit to 100 people.
And in California, all of the state’s amusement parks, including Disneyland, Magic Mountain and Universal Studios along with sports and concert venues will be allowed to reopen with limited capacity starting April 1, Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said Friday.
“We feel like now is the appropriate time to begin to reintroduce these activities in some fashion, and in a guarded way, in a slow and steady way,” Ghaly said.
We’re still months away from most Americans getting vaccinated
The good news: All three vaccines being used in the US “work really well” against the troubling B.1.1.7 variant, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
And research published Thursday shows the B.1.1.7 strain can hide a bit from the immune system, but not enough to decrease the value of vaccines significantly. And it doesn’t threaten to reinfect people who have recovered from the previous dominant strain of the virus.
CNN’s Nadia Kounang, Maggie Fox, Cheri Mossburg, Hollie Silverman, Heather Law and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.
