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Nearly half of new US virus infections are in just 5 states

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  texan1211  •  3 years ago  •  34 comments

By:   RUSS BYNUM and MICHELLE R. SMITH (MSN)

Nearly half of new US virus infections are in just 5 states
Nearly half of new coronavirus infections nationwide are in just five states — a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period, according to state health...

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Nearly half of new coronavirus infections nationwide are in just five states — a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots.

New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period, according to state health agency data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Total U.S. infections during the same week numbered more than 452,000.

The heavy concentration of new cases in states that account for 22% of the U.S. population has prompted some experts and elected officials to call for President Joe Biden's administration to ship additional vaccine doses to those places. So far, the White House has shown no signs of shifting from its policy of dividing vaccine doses among states based on population.

Sending extra doses to places where infection numbers are climbing makes sense, said Dr. Elvin H. Geng, a professor in infectious diseases at Washington University. But it's also complicated. States that are more successfully controlling the virus might see less vaccine as a result.

"You wouldn't want to make those folks wait because they were doing better," Geng said. "On the other hand, it only makes sense to send vaccines to where the cases are rising."

The spike in cases has been especially pronounced in Michigan, where the seven-day average of daily new infections reached 6,719 cases Sunday — more than double what it was two weeks earlier. Only New York reported higher case numbers. And California and Texas, which have vastly larger populations than Michigan, are reporting less than half its number of daily infections.

Though Michigan has seen the highest rate of new infections in the past two weeks, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she does not plan to tighten restrictions. She has blamed the virus surge on pandemic fatigue, which has people moving about more, as well as more contagious variants.

Whitmer got her first vaccine shot Tuesday, the day after Michigan expanded eligibility to everyone 16 and older. She asked the White House last week during a conference call with governors whether it has considered sending extra vaccine to states battling virus surges. She was told all options were on the table.

In New York City, vaccination appointments are still challenging to get. Mayor Bill de Blasio has publicly harangued the federal government about the need for a bigger vaccine allotment almost daily, a refrain he repeated when speaking to reporters Tuesday.

"We still need supply, supply, supply," de Blasio said, before adding, "But things are really getting better."

On the state level, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not called publicly for an increase in New York's vaccine allotment, even as cases ticked up in recent weeks and the number of hospitalized people hit a plateau.

In New Jersey, where the seven-day rolling average of daily new infections has risen over the past two weeks, from 4,050 daily cases to 4,250, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said he is constantly talking to the White House about demand for the coronavirus vaccine, though he stopped short of saying he was lobbying for more vaccines because of the state's high infection rate.

Vaccine shipments to New Jersey are up 12% in the last week, Murphy said Monday, though he questioned whether that's enough.

"We constantly look at, OK, we know we're going up, but are we going up at the rate we should be, particularly given the amount of cases we have?" Murphy said.

New virus variants are clearly one of the drivers in the increase, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. Failure to suppress the rise in cases will lead to more people getting sick and dying, she said, and drive increases in other parts of the country.

"More vaccine needs to be where the virus is," Bibbins-Domingo said, adding that people should get over the "scarcity mindset" that has them thinking surging vaccine into one place will hurt people elsewhere.

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has urged the Biden administration to push additional coronavirus shots into parts of the U.S. experiencing the most serious outbreaks, including Michigan, New York and New Jersey.

"I think what we need to do is try to continue to vaccinate, surge vaccine into those parts of the country," Gottlieb said in a March 28 appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation." "So the incremental vaccine that's coming onto the market, I think the Biden administration can allocate to parts of the country that look hot right now."

Talk of sending extra shots to some states comes at a time when the number of daily infections in the U.S. has fallen dramatically compared to a January spike following the holiday season. However, the seven-day average of daily infections been rising slowly since mid-March.

The five states seeing the most infections stand out. As of Tuesday, 31 U.S. states were reporting seven-day averages of fewer than 1,000 new daily cases.

White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said Tuesday more than 28 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be delivered to states this week. That allocation will bring the U.S. total to more than 90 million doses distributed in the past three weeks.

The news came as Biden announced more than 150 million coronavirus shots have been administered since he took office, and that all adults will be eligible to receive a vaccine by April 19.

About 40% of U.S. adults have now received at least one COVID-19 shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 23% of American adults have been fully vaccinated — including more than half of Americans 65 and older.

Geng said the nation should take a step back and go slow. Even just a few more weeks of Americans sticking with social distancing and other precautions could make a huge difference.

"The take-home message here is, let's not jump the gun," Geng said. "There's light at the end of the tunnel. We all see it there. And we will get there. Slow and steady."

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington, David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, and Michael Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, also contributed to this report.


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Texan1211
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Texan1211    3 years ago

There sure were loads of pandemic experts here saying that Texas would be hit hard because the Governor relaxed mandates and experts can't ever be wrong, can they?

 
 
 
XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
1.1  XXJefferson51  replied to  Texan1211 @1    3 years ago

Interesting article.  

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
1.2  devangelical  replied to  Texan1211 @1    3 years ago

a bit premature, as usual. Texas will soon join that list.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.2.1  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  devangelical @1.2    3 years ago

Prove that instead of merely mouthing the words.

IF YOU CAN, of course!

 
 
 
exexpatnowinTX
Freshman Quiet
1.2.2  exexpatnowinTX  replied to  devangelical @1.2    3 years ago
a bit premature, as usual. Texas will soon join that list.

Two points.

As I will soon be relocating to Texas from GB, I continually monitor the situation there.

Texas positivity rates, active infections, and hospitalizations are going down.

If Texas has the misfortune of joining the list of increasing numbers of infected, look no further than the fact that President Biden is releasing infected illegal aliens into the state and other states as well. 

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
1.2.3  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Texan1211 @1.2.1    3 years ago

Texas eliminated the mask mandate on 10 March so I doubt people will socially distance also.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.2.4  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @1.2.3    3 years ago

So, almost 4 weeks ago, and no calamity which was claimed was going to be the result of relaxing restrictions.

Cuomo was hailed as a hero for his handling of the pandemic by many Democrats, if not all.

Why would New York be a hotspot once again since he handled it all so brilliantly? Wouldn't it make more sense to assume that New York should be on the list of declining infections because of Cuomo?

 
 
 
pat wilson
Professor Participates
1.2.5  pat wilson  replied to  exexpatnowinTX @1.2.2    3 years ago

You're already there.

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
1.2.6  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Texan1211 @1.2.4    3 years ago

If NY deserves to be on the list, it will be just as Texas will.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.2.7  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @1.2.6    3 years ago

Texas is not in the list, for good reason.

New York is on the list. also for good reason.

 
 
 
cjcold
Professor Quiet
1.2.8  cjcold  replied to  exexpatnowinTX @1.2.2    3 years ago

Mexico has a much lower infection rate than Texas and the US as a whole.

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
1.2.9  Sean Treacy  replied to  cjcold @1.2.8    3 years ago
exico has a much lower infection rate than Texas and the US as a whol

Sure.. Mexico's public health system is second to none. They definitely have captured every infection.  

A year into and people still think reporting numbers capture every infection and there is no difference in reporting between countries. Unbelievable.

The reality is Mexico's having a hard time simply tracking deaths..

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
1.3  Sean Treacy  replied to  Texan1211 @1    3 years ago
were loads of pandemic experts here saying that Texas would be hit hard because the Governor relaxed mandates and experts can't ever be wrong, can they?

Amazing isn't it?  The Covid experts here were quite confident Texas would be the epicenter of a covid apocalypse a month after removing it's mask mandate. 

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.3.1  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Sean Treacy @1.3    3 years ago

Yeah, I wonder where they all are now?

Weird they wouldn't come to gloat--er, make that eat crow.

 
 
 
igknorantzrulz
PhD Quiet
1.3.2  igknorantzrulz  replied to  Texan1211 @1.3.1    3 years ago

i love crow

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.3.3  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  igknorantzrulz @1.3.2    3 years ago
i love crow

I've heard that it is an acquired taste, that one must partake a number of times of before developing a liking to it.

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
2  Paula Bartholomew    3 years ago

If the states have thrown out all precautions before herd immunity, then shame on their governors.  If they don't want to take this seriously, then send the vaccines to the states who do.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
2.1  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @2    3 years ago

What about states that might be on the rise that haven't thrown out all precautions?

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
2.1.1  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Texan1211 @2.1    3 years ago

I am referring to those states who are not following precautions, not ones that are

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
2.1.2  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @2.1.1    3 years ago

that is a narrow viewpoint, and one which, if enacted, would be very stupid.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
3  Buzz of the Orient    3 years ago

Those states contain about one third of the population of the USA, wherein some of the most densely populated areas are located.  So what's the big deal?

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @3    3 years ago
Those states contain about one third of the population of the USA, wherein some of the most densely populated areas are located.  So what's the big deal?

California and Texas have larger populations than any of the states listed above. They aren't on the list, and Texas has relaxed restrictions which the experts assured us would cause a dramatic rise in cases in Texas.

The big deal is that the pandemic experts here have been proven wrong once again.

That, and the left's darling Cuomo doesn't seem to have it handled quite so brilliantly as the left wanted us to believe.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
3.1.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Texan1211 @3.1    3 years ago

Texas is a pretty big state is it not, where the population is relatively spread out compared to the 5 named ones.  Notwithstanding anything, strict adherence to the guidelines was necessary, and it worked elsewhere.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.1.2  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @3.1.1    3 years ago

4 of the largest cities in the US are in Texas

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
3.1.3  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Texan1211 @3.1    3 years ago

CA is not on the list because deaths, infections, and hospitalizations are down.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.1.4  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @3.1.3    3 years ago

yes, I know. did I claim California was on the list?

 
 
 
cjcold
Professor Quiet
3.1.5  cjcold  replied to  Texan1211 @3.1.2    3 years ago

Been to Austin a few times. Very fond of Austin, the folk and the music there.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.1.6  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  cjcold @3.1.5    3 years ago

it is a very good music scene there.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.1.7  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  cjcold @3.1.5    3 years ago

if you like bbq. eat at Franklins

 
 
 
cjcold
Professor Quiet
3.1.8  cjcold  replied to  Texan1211 @3.1.6    3 years ago

Played SXSW twice way back in the day. Folk seemed to like my blues band.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.1.9  seeder  Texan1211  replied to  cjcold @3.1.8    3 years ago

went a couple of times, but too crowded for me.

 
 
 
cjcold
Professor Quiet
3.1.10  cjcold  replied to  Texan1211 @3.1.9    3 years ago

In my late 60s now and really hate crowds All of those years of working security and as a paramedic burned me out. 

 
 
 
cjcold
Professor Quiet
4  cjcold    3 years ago

Played SXSW twice way back in the day. They seemed to like my blues band.

 
 
 
Phaedrus
Freshman Silent
4.1  Phaedrus  replied to  cjcold @4    3 years ago

What band were you with?

 
 

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