After the recent news of president Donald Trump testing positive for COVID, more statistics revealed a staggering increase in each states’ COVID cases with only three states, that being Texas, Missouri, and South Carolina. According to John Hopkins University, on Friday October 1st, there were 54,506 reported cases from the US, which is the highest single day case number since August 14th. Furthermore, the days from September 23rd to October 3rd had an average of 46,500 cases each day, which is against the most cases in a five-day period since August 14-18.
As the virus increases to spread, many state officials ask to “get back to the basics” of fighting the virus. On claims that masks aren’t working to stop the spread, Gov. Tony Evers states “the surges we’re seeing across our state are not an indication that masks don’t work. This underscores what we’ve said all along which is that masks only work if everyone wears them.” With many schools and businesses reopening, there is no doubt that the number of cases will increase due to a lack of enforcement for wearing masks and a lack of precautions to prevent the spread of the disease.
In anticipation of this, the federal government did begin to send tests to many states which is a step in the right direction, but sending test kits will not prevent diseases from spreading, it will mainly spread awareness that COVID is indeed still spreading. Former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that “testing does not replace safety measures including consistent mask use, physical distancing, and hand washing.” Sending the test kits does indeed help spread awareness of the virus, but now it is up to the states to continue to enforce social distancing and mask wearing in order to ensure a slowing of the disease.
The other solution for slowing the spread is the vaccines that are currently being tested. Some companies are currently conducting Phase 3 trials for the coronavirus vaccine in the US, but there is little certainty that an effective and efficient vaccine will be available soon. Regardless, maintaining social distancing as well as minimal social contact are the best options to prevent more cases each day.
Source 1: CNN
Source 2: Wall Street Journal
Source 3: NY Times
Image Source 1: CNBC
Image Source 2: Seattle Times
10 comments:
While many are hopeful that an effective Coronavirus vaccine will be approved by the FDA soon, the reality is that while treatments may appear promising, very few are able to make it through the strict standards of the FDA and into the hands of doctors and patients for use. Should a vaccine get FDA approval, it will still take time for companies to begin mass-producing it, and it may not be highly effective. Next, claims made regarding the inefficiency of lack of use for masks are unfounded, and to elaborate on what was mentioned in the post, while it may appear that masks do not work because states are seeing increases in the prevalence of the virus, that does not mean that masks are ineffective. Data on the number of cases in a state says very little about the importance of masks, it would require data concerning the use of masks by individuals and the likelihood for them to be infected by the virus. The infection of the president with Coronavirus is a clear example of how not paying attention to guidelines established by the CDC and other similar organizations often leads to infection with the virus and the importance of appropriate social distancing, mask-wearing, and limitations with respect to interacting with others. As mentioned in the post, I most definitely agree with the fact that tests for the virus do not inherently mean protection from it. Tests do nothing by themselves to protect people, they simply indicate the presence of the virus.
I feel like the only way to truly tackle the virus in America is to instill a national mask mandate, making mask-wearing mandatory for anyone in the public. Like Ian noted, testing only proves that the virus is still present. It doesn't discourage people from going out. Allowing individual states to determine if wearing masks will be/are mandatory or not is irresponsible on the Federal Government's part. They are allowing the nation to have the freedom to put others at risk, simply for the convenience of not having something covering their faces. Infections can still occur if people are wearing masks, but it decreases the probability of it to an extreme.
I agree that the most effective way to control this pandemic is a stricter mandate on masks and social distancing. Additionally, our country's leaders need to do a better job of setting the example for others. Especially with Trump testing positive for the virus and attending fundraisers allegedly knowing he was positive, leaving the hospital wearing inadequate PPE, taking off his mask, etc, he is setting a horrible example to his supporters, who tend to follow & preach whatever he says/does. In two recent tweets, he states "Don't be afraid of COVID" and "we no longer have to be afraid" (not to mention he constantly references it as the "Chinese virus," thus perpetuating racism and xenophobia towards Asian Americans). What Trump neglects to understand or admit is that not everyone has the privilege to access the drugs that he was able to take, or even healthcare at all. Additionally, he is encouraging his supporters to not fear the virus, playing down the devastating effects that this pandemic has brought upon families across the globe. Another example of poor leadership is that 4 days ago, Mississippi lifted their mask mandate, thus encouraging citizens to not wear their mask, and undermine the severity of the pandemic. Overall, I totally agree with what Lindsey and Ian commented earlier about the importance of social distancing and wearing masks, and all of that starts with leadership, which is something that's clearly lacking in our country right now.
As of now, I believe that our country's social distancing measures and mask mandate needs to be much stricter. One reason being that individual state or city governments have too much control over safety measures and often do a poor job enforcing them. One solution would be the federal government to create a national mandate on mask and social distancing. However, once again there would be the issue of State v. Federal government power and the supposed "freedoms" to not wear mask that many Americans believed they are entitled too. Another way to overcome the pandemic is too simply shutdown the country like America did several months ago. Although, it would most certainly be economically costly to many small business people must see that the longer we do not take the necessary precautions the longer businesses will not be able to return back to normal. Perhaps spending a couple moths to shutdown the country will help ensure quicker economic prosperity as the number of cases dwindle. Despite which action is taken, what is certain is that our political leaders must do a better job supporting and taking the necessary precautions during the pandemic. Trump's selfish behavior of attending other events and interacting with other people while having COVID-19 as well as his families' complete disregard for masks during the debate only serves to downplay the severity of the virus to their supporters which only further hurts the country as we tread through the pandemic.
I think we will continue to see a trend of cases rising and dropping as people continue to go in and out of caring for the virus. As cases lower less people will distance and wear a mask and the opposite effect will happen as cases rise. Unless there is a mask mandate or other form of containment this trend will be stuck in loop. Some act has to be put in place for this to be solved.
I agree that it is important to enforce social distancing and wearing facemasks strictly. Although increasing testing will help to stop the spread of Covid-19 to some degree (given those who test positive quarantine strictly) it will not do enough to stop the spread. Therefore, wearing masks and social distancing is the most effective and thus to most important thing for all Americans to do. However, not enough Americans are doing this. According to Brooking, many Americans do not do so because they feel that wearing a facemask by the request of institutions such as the CDC is an infringement of their individual rights (https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/08/31/american-individualism-is-an-obstacle-to-wider-mask-wearing-in-the-us/). I disagree that it is a matter of individual rights. Wearing a mask is about keeping both themselves and others safe. I believe that these individuals should take into consideration the 212,000 American deaths due to Covid-19 to date. By not wearing a mask, these Americans are putting other Americans at a huge risk.
Especially following last night's debate, I think it is vital for the US to either undergo another shut down or to create a national mandate requiring masks and social distancing protocols. The idea that we can just "wait for a vaccine" and then things will be fine is an optimistic thought that honestly has serious repercussions surrounding the death rates in the US. We have already lost 210,000 lives to the pandemic and the numbers clearly aren't slowing down, yet our leadership is rejecting this data in order to keep our economy open. I do think it is unlikely for any changes in the COVID status to take place during Trump's time in office and I am hopeful that if Biden wins in November he will make changes in our pandemic preparedness team and actively engage in efforts to slow the spread, on a national level.
It's pretty much inevitable that as states reopen, cases will go back up; unless measures are absolutely perfect, which is almost impossible, covid-19 is going to spread as long as people are even remotely near each other. I have to disagree with the other comments on this thread on having the federal government mandating masks; while I believe in the efficacy of masks and social distancing, I have to question a few things. Disregarding whether or not it's even legal for the federal government to mandate masks, the practicality of such a mandate is ridiculous considering all the factors of the U.S. It would be impractical for the federal government to try to enforce it in every neighborhood in all 50 states. Delegating the responsibility to the states won't work any better than what the states are already doing with their mandates. The reality is that the situation is a lot more complex than just "mandate this and that."
I think it is important to know that masks are effective in stopping the spread but only wearing them isn't enough. If agglomerations are forming, even if everyone is wearing a mask the risk of catching COVID is still high. Mask is a prevention technique that is not even nearly 100% efficient. Of course enforcing mask wearing is essential and should happen in all states until the virus is completely contained which won't happen for a very long time, however the only way to minimize the spread if by social distancing which is not what has been happening in many places.
There is also the fact that cases are not decreasing but restrictions are still being lifted. Of course it is important to keep the economy going and not bankrupt people who's income needs person contact. But it is not a mystery to why cases are going up and they cannot be completely attributed by lack of wearing masks, even though it is also a factor.
Sadly, I cannot say that I am not surprised that cases are on the rise. I have noticed that throughout the pandemic there has been a distinct pattern. Cases go up, people become more cautious and quarantine resulting in a large decline of cases. Then when cases are down people get the illusion that the virus is gone and begin to re-open and not quartine. Because of these cases go back up and the cycle repeats itself. This is primarily due to people thinking they won't get affected so they stop carrying. The only way for the virus to actually die out at this point is a vaccine, herd immunity, and or people actually take quarantining seriously and when going out they always wear a mask.
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