President Biden Announces the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. medical experts answered with proof that it is not.even The White House later announced that nothing had changed about the pandemic and that all necessary precautions are intact and in place to limit the spread of the virus and its impact on the population.
Whenever the President of the United States speaks, people listen. His voice is often amplified and interpreted far beyond what he wanted to convey. This is the price you pay when occupying the Oval Office.
More important than the president declaring the pandemic over is the reality of the pandemic.
of COVID-19 confirmed cases is about 50,000 per day and has been steadily declining over the past two months. The number of unconfirmed cases can multiply several times because of people’s reliance on it. home test, or just don’t mind testing. This means that community-acquired transmission remains at high levels and likely exceeds those seen among infected people. delta variant.
new COVID-19 hospitalizations It has also been trending downward over the last two months. People over the age of 70 continue to bear the brunt of the virus’ most severe consequences, accounting for the majority of new hospitalizations. Available vaccines and boosters have played an important role in reducing such hospitalizations.
COVID-19 fatalities 350 to 400 deaths per day seems to be the norm, but it is also being mitigated. Again, vaccines play an important role in keeping these numbers down.
With so many community submissions, the virus keeps mutatingThe once-dominant Delta variant can be seen far in the rear-view mirror. The Omicron variant currently dominates, with subvariant his BA.5 leading the pack over the past two months. This appears to be changing as subvariant BA.4.6 exerts its contagious power and is likely to become the new predominant circulating variant within the next 6 weeks. This creates a new set of risks, as each variant and subvariant has its own characteristics and clinical effects.
new Bivalent COVID-19 vaccine It was recently launched with somewhat modest fanfare.many people tired of vaccinesAs evidenced by Delay booster uptake in eligible populationsIt remains unclear how well this new vaccine will be accepted.
All this data suggests is that those who believe the pandemic is over are not reading the epidemiological tea leaves.
Biden’s announcement is best interpreted as premature. It may even be wishful thinking on his part, especially with the looming midterm elections in which the battle for control of Congress is looming.
Indeed, Biden’s statement reflects how much of the population is behaving.For many, COVID-19 is just a bad cold. And most of the time its short-term symptoms look like that.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Updated COVID-19 Policy Give everyone the freedom to choose how they behave in the virus. Everyone should decide how much risk they want to take and what actions they should take to reduce their personal risk. Of course, if you don’t feel any personal risk, you don’t need any precautions. this is, majority of the population.
Most obviously, the people who know the most about medicine and public health continue to be those very people. Express Concerns About COVID-19 and the impact on population. Conversely, those who have little training or expertise to make such assessments are treating COVID-19 like a minor inconvenience and should probably be avoided, but not at all.
I’m sorry Mr. President, but you are closer to the second group than to the first.Considering the way he Health advisers were caught off guard by this statement, which provides ample evidence of this fact. So let’s treat his comments with an appropriate level of credibility and his health advisor’s views as the true state of the pandemic.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is Professor of Computer Science at the Carl College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Data His scientist applies his expertise in data-driven, risk-based decision-making to assess and inform public policy.
