Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who has been selected to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will speak at an event at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, December 8, 2020.
Susan Walsh | AP
The decline in the number of Covid-19 cases reported in the US since early January may be leveling off, a worrying shift as highly transmissible variants threaten to exacerbate infections, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
“In recent weeks, there have been cases and hospitalizations in the United States since early January, and the number of deaths has declined in the past week,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky at a press conference. “But the latest data suggests that these declines may be stalling and possibly leveling off at a still very high number.”
The nation now reports a daily average of about 73,376 new cases in the past week, a slight increase from a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The US peaked at almost 250,000 cases per day in early January after the winter break.
The recent shift may be a sign that new, highly transmissible variants of the coronavirus are starting to take hold, Walensky said. One variant, known as B.1.1.7 and first found in the UK, is expected to become the predominant species by mid to late March, experts predicted.
Top US health officials have warned in recent weeks that the variants could reverse the current downward trajectory of infections in the US and slow the nation’s recovery from the pandemic. The B.1.1.7 variant appears to be responsible for about 10% of new Covid-19 cases in the US, up from just 1% a few weeks ago, Walensky said. However, some states have more cases of the highly transmissible variety than others.
Top US health officials have warned in recent weeks that the variants could reverse the current downward trajectory of infections in the US and slow the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.
The head of the federal health agency said states should not start lifting restrictions on businesses and meetings, given the direction of the cases and the high rate of viral spread.
“I want to be clear: cases, hospitalizations and deaths all remain very high and the recent shift in the pandemic needs to be taken extremely seriously,” Walensky said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s Chief Medical Advisor, said the nation will be in a “precarious position” as new cases begin to level off at about 70,000 daily.
“We have to look carefully at what happens to those numbers over the next week or so before you start making the understandable need to relax with certain disabilities,” Fauci said.
This is a story in progress.