CDC head warns of ‘impending doom’ as U.S surpasses 30 million Covid-19 cases

Leah Sinclair30 March 2021

The U.S is on the brink of “impending doom” as Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths begin to rise, the head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday.

Rochelle Walensky warned of the virus spreading across the country, as the U.S surpassed 30 million cases of coronavirus.

“We in the United States surpassed 30 million cases of Covid-19. CDC’s most recent data show that the seven-day average of new cases is slightly less than 60,000 cases per day.

“This is a 10 per cent increase compared to the prior seven day period,” she said.

Hospitalisations are also on the rise averaging about 4,800 new patients per day, a 4.2 per cent increase over the seven-day average.

Deaths have increased 2.6 per cent over the last seven days to nearly 1,000 new deaths due to Covid-19 per day.

"I’m going to reflect on the reoccurring feeling I have of impending doom," she said in an unscripted moment during the White House press briefing.

"We have so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared.

“I’m speaking not necessarily as your CDC director, and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter to ask you to just please hold on a while longer.”

It comes as a new CDC study showed “strong evidence” that the two mRNA vaccines authorised for use in the US are highly effective in preventing infections in what the agency called “real-world conditions” among essential workers.

“This study shows that our national vaccination efforts are working,” Ms Walensky said. “These findings should offer hope to the millions of Americans receiving Covid-19 vaccines each day and to those who will have the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated in the weeks ahead.”

On Monday President Joe Biden urged state politicians to make mask-wearing mandatory in public places.

He also pledged that 90 per cent of American adults would be able to receive a vaccine by mid-April.

“I’m reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate," he said.

"We still are in a war with this deadly virus. And we're bolstering our defences, but this war's far from won."

The virus peaked in the United States in January, averaging around 315,000 infections, 17,000 new hospitalisations, and more than 3,000 new deaths per day.

Since mid-January, the numbers have steadily decreased thanks to the vaccine rollout.

However, the rise of new variants and easing of coronavirus restrictions in different states has likely led to an increase in cases.

“I’m calling on every single one of you to sound the alarm ... we do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge,” Dr Walensky said.

The United States has recorded over 30.2 million coronavirus cases and over 549,000 people have died from the virus since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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