As cases of Covid-19 explode all over the United States the tally of deaths has risen to over 250,000. Figures from John Hopkins University report 256,311 deaths and nearly 11.9 million cases.
In an interview on the BBC News Channel, United States Infectious Disease Expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, ‘It’s a very serious situation because there are lagging indicators.. So when you see the massive increase in cases as we’re seeing now particularly as more and more people are doing things inside, we’re in a very difficult situation.’
New restrictions have been introduced throughout the U.S. in an effort to contain the surging number of infections including closing schools in New York City. New York City’s public school district which with over one million students is the largest in the United States will close from Thursday.
Hope is now being pinned on vaccines from both Pfizer and BioNTech whose latest data claim that their vaccine should provide 94% protection to adults over 65 years old from coronavirus. Moderna claims a nearly 95% success rate of success. However until these vaccines can be distributed in large amounts Dr. Fauci recommends extreme caution especially with the American winter approaching. He cautioned people to ‘double down’ on health measures including the wearing of face masks, the practice of social distancing and the avoidance of crowds. ‘They sound so simple and we know they can work. But there’s a degree of Covid fatigue- people are just worn out from these restrictions, ‘ he said. ‘hold out for just a little longer because help is on the way;’ he encouraged speaking of the promising vaccines that the United States and the whole world is counting on that will end the Pandemic.