What is the next step for the United States? COVID hot spots provide clues to what might happen in the future

Contagious delta variants are on the rise Coronavirus disease Hospitalization in the western mountains and contributing to a devastating outbreak in the north is a worrying sign that may happen in the future This winter in america

Although trends are improving in Florida, Texas, and other southern states that have suffered the most from the summer surge, it is clear that the Delta and the United States are not over. As people enter indoors, close windows and breathe stagnant air, COVID-19 moves north and west in the winter.

Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health said: “We will see a large number of outbreaks in people who have not been vaccinated. This will cause serious illness and it will be tragic.”

In recent days, after a surge in cases related to Halloween parties, a university in Vermont has suspended social gatherings. Boston officials closed an elementary school to control the epidemic. Hospitals in New Mexico and Colorado are overwhelmed.

In Michigan, the three-county urban area of ??Detroit has once again become a transmission hotspot, with nearly 400 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. According to a series of surveys tracked by an influential modeling group at the University of Washington, the number of people wearing masks in Michigan has dropped to about 25%.

Dr. Jennifer Morse, the medical director of the health departments of 20 counties in central and northern Michigan, said: “Overall, concerns about COVID have almost disappeared, which is unfortunate.” “Wearing a mask into a store, I felt It’s strange. I’m in the minority. It’s very different. It’s just a very unusual atmosphere.”

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Although the vaccination rate in New Mexico is above average, the state’s intensive care beds have been used up. The weakened immunity may be at work. People who are vaccinated early but have not yet received booster shots may increase the number of infections, even if they still have some protection measures against the most terrible consequences of the virus.

Ali Mokdad, professor of health indicators science at the University of Washington, said: “Delta and decreased immunity-the combination of the two makes us shrink.” “This virus will stay with us for a long, long time.”

Delta variants dominate the infections across the United States, accounting for more than 99% of the samples analyzed.

Mokdad said that no state has achieved a high enough vaccination rate, even if combined with immunity from infection, it is impossible to avoid the type of outbreak that occurs now.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis runs counter to the state proposal Sign executive orders On Thursday, allowing any resident 18 years of age or older to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 booster shot is another measure to prevent hospitals and medical staff from being overwhelmed by the surge in infections in the state’s delta.

Progress in vaccination continues, but there are still nearly 60 million Americans 12 years and older who have not been vaccinated. The White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said the situation has improved since July, when 100 million people were not vaccinated.

An average of about 300,000 injections per day for the first injection is an effort to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 years Have a good start, Zients said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Linsey Marr of Virginia Tech is the main researcher on the airborne transmission of the coronavirus, and he predicted in a Twitter post on September 15 that the virus will spread northward. The virus spreads in the air and can accumulate in closed rooms with poor ventilation. Marr said that colder weather means more people breathe the same air indoors.

She said, imagine that everyone you spend time with is a smoker, and you want to breathe in as little of their smoke as possible.

“The closer you are to the smoker, the more smoke you will be exposed to,” Marr said. “If you are in a poorly ventilated room, smoke will accumulate over time.”

Marr said that she and her vaccinated family will conduct a quick test to check for infection before the Christmas party.

“It’s hard to know what will happen next with this virus,” Marr said. “We thought we knew, but delta really surprised us. We thought the vaccine would help put an end to this situation, but things are still delaying. It’s hard to know what will happen next.”