Number of Covid-19 deaths may begin to decline next week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield.
Based on the CNBC analysis of Hopkins data, deaths have remained high, at around 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths per day, on average.
Meanwhile, the number of new coronavirus infections has been falling since the end of July, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Redfield explained that he would like to see the number of daily new deaths under 250.
“You and I are going to see the cases continue to drop. And then hopefully this week and next week, you’re going to start seeing the death rate really start to drop again.” Redfield said in an interview with Dr. Howard Bauchner of the Journal of the American Medical Association. “I think we’re going to start to see a decline in mortality across the country now next week as we continue to get control of these cases.”
Bringing the numbers down
Moreover, Redfield said that the US is starting “to turn the tide on what I call the southern outbreak in the nation.” He pointed out that Arizona, Texas and other states that were damaged badly by the virus over the summer have carried out public health guidelines, particularly wearing of face coverings and temporarily suspending the operations of indoor bars and restaurants.
He noted that daily new cases are still high, saying he hope to bring it down under 10,000 new infections per day. His expectation is that the percent of all tests coming back positive throughout the US daily is under 3%.
Meanwhile, over 6% of all tests are currently coming back positive, according to a seven-day average, Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said earlier this week.
Redfield said other states still have worrisome numbers, particularly in “Middle America,” such as Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Red zone areas
“We’re starting to see some of the cases now in the red zone areas are falling, but if you look at those states that are in what we call the yellow zone, between 5% and 10%, they’re not falling, so middle America right now is getting stuck,” he said.
“This is why it’s so important for middle America to recognize the mitigation steps that we talked about, about masks, about social distancing, hand washing, closing bars, being smart about crowds," he added.
He furthered that Covid-19 cases are not increasing significantly in the region, but the fact that cases are rising could could not be taken lightly. Redfield reiterated that the combination of a major flu outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic could add to the burn of hospitals and lead to preventable deaths. He called on Americans to get this year’s flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available to curb the risk of an overwhelming flu season.
“We don’t need to have a third wave in the heartland right now,” he said. “We need to prevent that particularly as we’re coming to the fall.”
