At the same time, a series of reports from the CDC this week highlighted the ongoing dangers of Covid-19. One CDC report tracked the travel of one of the first patients diagnosed with the B117 variants in the US – and the variant’s ability to spread even with restrictions in place.
The patient in question traveled to the UK for the holidays, encountered a sick relative at a family gathering on Christmas Eve, and developed mild Covid-like symptoms immediately before taking a transatlantic flight back to Dallas, Texas. A few days before the flight, the patient tested negative for Covid-19, but used a low-specificity antigen test.
Once the patient arrived in Dallas, they drove eight hours across the state; stopped five times for food, gas and groceries; they arrived home with worse symptoms, and eventually tested positive for the B117 variant of Covid-19.
In another report issued by the CDC this week, the agency found the rate of Covid-19 among children in Mississippi was probably 10 times worse than the number of reported cases, and had infected perhaps as many as one in six children by last September.
A third report highlighted the association between restaurant dining, mask mandates and Covid-19 transmission. The agency found mask mandates drove down transmission and death rates, while any on-premises restaurant dining tended to drive up transmission and death rates.
To stop the spread of Covid-19 entirely, a nuanced concept called “herd immunity”, scientists believe the US would need to vaccinate the vast majority of adults. Even if vaccine manufacturers are able to produce enough doses to reach all American adults by the end of May, as Biden has promised, vaccine hesitancy, poor distribution and logistical barriers could still derail the immunization campaign.
Source: US experts warn new Covid variants and states reopening may lead to fourth wave | Coronavirus | The Guardian
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