US coronavirus outbreaks are forming a "distressing trend," according to a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director for infectious diseases, said US coronavirus outbreaks are happening “really in all parts of the country,” with high transmission in the Midwest.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing a distressing trend here in the United States,” he told reporters on a call. He said the surge is likely due to the arrival of cooler temperatures, adding, “Smaller, more intimate gatherings of family, friends, and neighbors may be driving transmission as well, especially as they move indoors.”
“I recognize that we are all getting tired of the impact Covid-19 has had on our lives,” he said. “We’re tired of wearing masks, but it continues to be as important as it has ever been and I would say even more important than ever as we move into the fall season.”
The US now records 60,000 new infections daily, increasing nearly 17% compared with a week ago, based on a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The numbers come from a weekly average to stabilize fluctuations in daily reporting. Only Hawaii and Virginia showed declines of more than 5% as of Tuesday.
The US is deemed to have the worst outbreak in the world, with over 8.2 million cases and at least 221,122 deaths, the Hopkins data shows.
Health authorities and infectious disease experts worry that the US coronavirus outbreaks become dire as the country enters the flu season and hospitals could be at full capacity.
“If steps are not taken to reduce transmission at the community level, it’ll come to no surprise that health-care systems start to feel a pinch and start to head towards capacity and beyond capacity,” Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the University of Toronto, said in an interview with CNBC.
According to Butler, the US will likely distribute a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine “very soon,” noting that he is “cautiously optimistic” a vaccine will be given in limited quantities by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said on the same call that Pfizer and Moderna are “very close if not fully enrolled in their trials" in terms of coronavirus vaccine development.
Butler stressed every state and jurisdiction has proposed plans to the federal government for the distribution of a vaccine. The agency established a deadline of last Friday.
The agency will present their comments in the next two weeks, Butler said. He added that the plans are “flexible” as health officials “learn more about which vaccines become available in what amount and when.”
Europe outbreaks
The World Health Organization (WHO) finds the coronavirus outbreak in Europe “concerning” as the number of intensive care beds shrinks.
Europe posts 187 new Covid-19 infections per million people, based on a seven-day average. Overall, Europe, which covers the 27 European Union countries and the UK, records an average of around 97,000 new cases per day, up 44% from one week ago, based on a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
The spike of cases across the region compelled France to announce a public health state of emergency. Germany and the UK implemented new measures in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
Dr. Hans Kluge, the head of the WHO’s Europe office, believes that the cause of the increase of new coronavirus cases is the public’s lack of compliance when it comes to health and safety protocols.
According to Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead, Europe is not only seeing an increase in coronavirus cases. It faces an increase in hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
