R&I – TxPAT ****
Plummeting Covid-19 case counts across the United States are leading to lifted mask mandates and more conversations about steps toward normalcy — but more people are dying of the coronavirus now than during most points of the pandemic.
More than 2,000 Covid-19 deaths have been reported in the United States each day for the past month. Average daily deaths are falling, but from a very high point. They dipped just below that mark in recent days, to about 1,900 on Monday; the federal holiday may have delayed reporting.
Before Omicron became the dominant coronavirus strain in the US, there were only about 100 other days when there were more than 2,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The only other time that deaths have been this high for this long was during the first winter surge, before vaccines were available. The Omicron wave has also been deadlier for longer than the Delta surge: In September, when Delta was dominant, average daily deaths topped 2,000 for half as long.
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“I’ve long since lost track of the number of people I’ve seen die of the disease, but the reality is that almost everybody who is critically ill, in the ICU or dying now remains unvaccinated. That has been true since the beginning. But in the beginning, people didn’t have the opportunity to be vaccinated,” said Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, medical director of the infectious diseases program at Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis.
“None of us taking care of Covid patients need CDC statistics or anyone else to tell us that, because we simply see that reality play out every day and have for quite some time.”
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/health/covid-deaths-now-younger-unvaccinated/index.html