Officials said most new infections occur in younger adults and are likely due to rapidly spreading variants.
For the fourth week in a row, the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United States is on the rise, White House officials said Monday, while the number of deaths has declined.
Rochelle Walensky, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said there are now an average of 64,000 new cases of the coronavirus every day, up 7 percent from the previous week. The number of deaths averaged 800 per day, she said, is on the decline.
Walensky said the increased number of cases is mainly occurring in younger adults as states, businesses and schools gradually reopen. And it is believed to be caused, at least in part, by highly contagious variants.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said most new infections occur in younger adults and are caused by the spread of variants that are highly transmissible [File: Susan Walsh/Pool via Reuters]
“As the trends and data indicate, cases are increasing nationally and we see this occurring mainly in younger adults,” Walensky said during a task force’s COVID-19 press conference.
“We know that these increases are due in part to more transferable variants that we are monitoring closely,” she said.
Officials said that despite the increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations, the nation is making steady progress in its efforts to vaccinate Americans. More than 165 million doses have been administered to date, according to the CDC.
White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said the US currently administers an average of 3.1 million doses per day. And that almost one in three adults has received at least one injection. He said 55 percent of seniors, those 65 and older, have been fully vaccinated and 75 percent received at least one dose.
“We are moving in the right direction,” Slavitt said during the newsletter. “But we’re not there yet,” he warned.
“The war on COVID-19 is far from over, far from being won,” Slavitt said. “The worst we can do right now is take progress for victory.”
The United States has administered more than 165 million doses of vaccine to date [Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]
Many states have made steady progress in their vaccination efforts, and several have expanded their admission requirements to anyone over the age of 16 in recent weeks. Other states are still vaccinating front-line workers and those with underlying health conditions.
The US has so far issued emergency licenses for three vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The US may also approve the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, further increasing the nation’s supply. The US is expected to have a vaccine surplus by the second half of 2021.
US President Joe Biden, who took office in January, has set a goal to have all states offer vaccinations to anyone who wants to. He also set July 4, the American Independence Day, as a date when Americans should be able to return to a semblance of normalcy.
More than 555,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus – more than any other country in the world – according to a Johns Hopkins University census.