A group of health experts said on Monday that the U.S. has a long way to go before life returns to normal as deaths from Covid-19 remain far higher than seasonal respiratory viruses such as the flu.
A group of scientists, doctors and public health experts have come up with a plan for the US to live with Covid without major disruptions to daily life. Even though the U.S. has made progress, Covid is still causing more deaths than the flu and respiratory syncytial virus.
The report comes as elected leaders across the nation are lifting public health measures in response to a dramatic decline in Covid infections and hospitalizations from the peak of the omicron wave this winter. President Joe Biden encouraged Americans to return to work in person in his State of the Union speech last week. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 90 percent of Americans live in areas where they can take off face masks.
Most Americans can return to work, stay in the classroom, and move forward safely, with 75% of adults fully vaccined, the president said.
New Jersey ended its public health emergency on Monday and New York City lifted its vaccine requirement for indoor dining. During the first Covid wave in the spring of 2020 and the omicron surge this winter, New Jersey and New York were the hardest hit places.
In the past, as many as 1,150 people died weekly from respiratory viruses without the implementation of emergency measures. According to the experts, Covid's death toll is 10 times higher with 12,000 people succumbing to the virus some weeks. According to the CDC, more than 9000 people have died from Covid in the last week.
If a new highly contagious variant emerges, as many as 264,000 people could die from Covid between now and March 2023, according to the report. The death toll from the previous two years of the Pandemic in the U.S. was largely due to higher immunity in the population through vaccinations and natural infections. According to the report, the annual death toll from Covid could be as low as 20,000.
The report called on the US to make major investments to better manage Covid. According to the report, the White House should create a post on the National Security Council to advise the president on monitoring and preparing for threats. Efforts to counter anti-science information on vaccines and drugs would be coordinated by the deputy assistant of biosecurity.
The U.S. should invest in a multi-drug oral antiviral cocktail through a program similar to Operation Warp Speed, which developed effective vaccines in record time, as the virus is expected to develop resistance to any single drug, according to the report. The U.S. should improve wastewater, air and animal surveillance to track Covid and other respiratory viruses.
Investments in public health and health-care workforce, expanded research into long Covid and requiring better air ventilation in building codes were some of the recommendations in the report.
Biden said during his speech that the U.S. is preparing for another variant of Covid. If another variant threatens the effectiveness of the current shots, the U.S. can deploy new vaccines within 100 days. The president announced a program in which people who test positive for Covid at pharmacy can receive Pfizer's oral antiviral pill at no cost on the spot.
I can't promise a new variant won't come, but I can promise you we'll be ready if it does.
The number of new Covid infections in the U.S. has fallen from a record in January. The average number of new Covid cases in the US on Sunday was more than 46,000, down from a high of more than 802,000 on January 15. According to data from the CDC, hospitalizations are down from the peak.
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