Amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in South Asia, the United States is witnessing hundreds of deaths every week as the disease continues to pose an imminent danger to high-risk groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 killed an average of 350 people every week last month.
Speaking to ABC News, Dr. Tony Moody, a professor at Duke University Medical Center's infectious diseases division's pediatric department, said, "The fact that we're still seeing deaths just means it's still circulating, and people are still catching it."
According to the CDC, several cases of the new COVID-19 variant, which has been linked to a large surge of viral infection in China, have also been detected at US airports. The NB.1.8.1 variant of COVID-19 has been detected through the CDC's airport screening program in foreign travellers arriving at airports in Washington state, California, the New York City area and Virginia, CBS News reported.
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Where are the cases being detected?
The data available on the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) states that most of the cases are stemming from travellers from countries, including Japan, South Korea, France, China, and others. The testing was done between April 22 and May 12. Moreover, cases of the NB.1.8.1 variant have also been reported in other US states, including Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii, the CBS report said. These cases are reportedly separate from the airport cases.
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While the number of deaths is high, it is declining and less than the weekly deaths observed in prior spring months as well as the peak of 25,974 deaths recorded the week ending January 9, 2021, the CDC shared. Significant progress has been made in recent years, but high-risk groups are still at risk from COVID-19. Experts believe that what could be contributing to COVID-19's continued death toll in the United States is low vaccination rates, declining immunity, and a lack of treatment access.
