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America’s summer right now — in terms of the coronavirus — means lots of infections but relatively few deaths compared to previous versions of the virus, officials said, as cited by the Associated Press.
COVID-19 is still killing hundreds of Americans every day — but the virus isn’t as dangerous as it was last fall and winter.
“It’s going to be a good summer and we deserve this break,” Ali Mokdad, a professor of health indicators at the University of Washington in Seattle, told the AP.
With more Americans protected from serious illness through vaccination and infection, COVID-19 has — at least for now — become an unpleasant, inconvenient inconvenience for many.
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“It’s like having a bad cold or the flu,” a Massachusetts woman said recently.
She also said, “If I get it, I get it — and I’ll get over it.” She was double-vaccinated and boosted against COVID, she said.
A child wears a face mask on the first day of school in New York City amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Brooklyn, New York, in September 2021. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo)
Depending on the location, many Americans still wear masks when entering grocery stores or visiting other public places, even though the stores or places may not require them. Many still wear masks in the open when in large crowds.
Some stores still require masking to enter.
Other Americans, however, want nothing to do with masks at this point.
Visitors walk past a memorial for victims of COVID-19 at the Griffith Observatory on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, in Los Angeles. Thousands of flags were placed on the observatory lawn in memory of those who died of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County as of Nov. 2. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Dr. Dan Kaul, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, told the AP that things “feel cautiously good right now.”
“For the first time in as long as I can remember, almost since it started, we don’t have any [coronavirus] patients in the intensive care unit,” he said.
As the nation marks the 4th of July this year, the average daily death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. hovers around 360.
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Last year, during a similar summer lull, that number was roughly 228 per day in early July.
This remains the lowest daily death toll in the US since March 2020, when the virus first began to spread in the US
Today, in the third year of the pandemic, it’s easy to feel confused by the mixed picture.
But there were far fewer reported cases at this time last year – fewer than 20,000 a day.
They are now around 109,000 – and likely undercounted because tests done at home are not routinely counted.
Today, in the third year of the pandemic, it’s easy to feel confused by the mixed picture: Recurrent infections are increasingly likely, the AP reported, and a significant share of those infected will face lingering symptoms of what has become known as a long COVID -19.
People traveling by plane during the coronavirus pandemic are shown wearing face masks as they walk through an airport terminal. (iStock)
However, many concerns have now been alleviated.
“We’re now at a point where everyone’s immune system has seen either the virus or the vaccine two or three times by now,” Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the AP.
“What we’re seeing is that, on average, people are getting less sick,” Dowdy said.
As many as 8 out of 10 people in the US have been infected at least once, according to one influential model, the AP said.
Big differences separate the flu from COVID-19. Health experts continue to be surprised by the behavior of the coronavirus.
Lately, the mortality rate from COVID-19 has been a moving target. It is now well within the range of an average flu season, according to data analyzed by Arizona State University health industry researcher Mara Aspinall.
At first, some people said the coronavirus was no more deadly than the flu — “and for a long period of time, that wasn’t true,” Aspinall said.
Back then, people had no immunity. Treatments were experimental – and vaccines were not yet widely available.
A youth receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a pediatric vaccine clinic for children ages 5 to 11 set up at Willard Intermediate School in Santa Ana, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file)
Aspinall said that built-up immunity today has reduced the death rate to a steady level in a typical flu season. (In the past decade, the death rate from flu was about 5% to 13% of hospitalizations.)
Big differences separate the flu from COVID-19. Health experts continue to be surprised by the behavior of the coronavirus. It is also not yet clear whether it will establish itself as a flu-like seasonal pattern.
Last summer — when vaccinations first became widely available in the U.S. — the U.S. had to suffer the delta surge and then the omicron, which peaked last February and claimed the lives of 2,600 Americans a day, the AP reported.
The rapidly spreading omicron subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 may also contribute to a shift in the death toll, experts said.
Experts agree that it is possible for a new variant to emerge that is able to escape the established immunity of the population. The rapidly spreading omicron subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 may also contribute to a change in the number of deaths.
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In the coming weeks, deaths may increase in many states, but in the U.S. overall, deaths are likely to decline slightly, said Nicholas Reich, who summarizes the coronavirus forecast for the Center for COVID-19 Predictions in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diseases and Prevention (CDC).
People walking down the street are shown wearing masks against COVID-19. (AP)
“We have seen hospitalizations with COVID rise to about 5,000 new admissions each day from just over 1,000 in early April. But deaths due to COVID have increased slightly over the same time period,” said Reich, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Unvaccinated people have six times the risk of dying from COVID-19 compared to people with at least one primary series of vaccines, the CDC estimated based on data available as of April.
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This summer, think about your own vulnerability and that of those around you, especially at large gatherings because the virus spreads so quickly, Hopkins’ Dowdy said.
“There are still people who are very much at risk,” he said.
However, many vaccinated Americans are avoiding another booster.
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“I’ve been vaccinated twice and I’ve been boosted once,” one New Yorker told Fox News Digital. “Enough. No more boosters for me.”
He also pointed out that in his “civilian” opinion (he’s not a doctor) it’s entirely possible that those dying from COVID today had pre-existing illnesses or other complications.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
This article was written by Fox News staff.
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