Dr. Walensky CDC Chief Just Issued “Serious Threat” Warning Over COVID ~ PressTv
Leah Groth | PressTv | White House
On Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a warning over a “serious threat” during the White House COVID-19 Response Team Briefing. “I’m calling the American people to action, whether they’re vaccinated or not to recommit to doing the right thing,” she pleaded, as case numbers started to tick up in key areas around America. Read on to see if COVID-19 is increasing in your area—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had Coronavirus.
Dr. Walensky started the briefing by going over the latest numbers, revealing that the most recent seven day average is about 53,800 cases per day, “which is a slight increase from the previous seven day period,” the most recent seven day average for new hospital admissions is just over 4,500 per day, and deaths, about 1,000 per day. What she considers “very concerning” is that these numbers appear to be leveling off “at elevated levels,” despite the rate of decline of deaths slowing down.
“We also know that the trajectory of the pandemic varies across the United States with some States and regions of the country, such as the Northeast and the upper Midwest are beginning to again see a significant rise in cases,” she continued. “Taken together these statistics should serve as a warning sign for the American people.”
So why is this happening? She reiterates that it is likely due to “the continued relaxation of prevention measures while cases are still high and while concerning variants are spreading rapidly throughout the United States” noting it is “a serious threat to the progress we have made as a nation.”
According to Dr. Walensky, “Increasingly states are seeing a growing proportion of their COVID-19 cases attributed to variants,” revealing that the new west coast variants B.1429 and B.1427 are estimated to account for 52% of cases in California, 41% in Nevada and 25% in Arizona, while the B.1.1.7 variant is estimated to be responsible for 9% of cases in New Jersey and 8% in Florida.
“Believe me, I get it. We all want to return to our everyday activities and spend time with our family, friends and loved ones. But we must find the fortitude, hang in there for just a little bit longer,” she said. “We are at a critical point in this pandemic, a fork in the road where we as a country must decide which path we are going to take. We must act now. And I am worried that if we don’t take the right actions now, we will have another avoidable surge just as we are seeing in Europe right now, and just as we are so aggressively scaling up vaccination.”
The good news is, nearly 25% of the American population has received at least one dose and over 44 million people, about 13% of the population, is fully vaccinated, per Dr. Walensky, “and we have more vaccine supply on the way,” she promises. “Until then, we must do everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the proliferation of variants while we get more people vaccinated.”
“I’m calling the American people to action, whether they’re vaccinated or not to recommit to doing the right thing. Take the steps we know work to stop COVID-19: wear a well-fitting mask, socially distant, avoid crowds and travel and be ready to roll up your sleeves, get vaccinated when the vaccine is available to you,” she concluded. So get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to catch COVID.
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