- The latest coronavirus update we have thanks to data from Johns Hopkins University shows that new coronavirus infections are increasing again in almost half of the US.
- This trend is especially worrying public health officials like White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.
- Dr. Fauci warned this week that the US needs to get its baseline number of new coronavirus cases per day down much more as we head into the fall and winter months.
Bank of America Securities Credit Strategist Hans Mikkelsen recently shared a coronavirus update in an analyst note that would no doubt make President Trump happy if he sees it, because it harkens back to a line the president has been using often in his public remarks.
Essentially, Mikkelsen says that it appears an increase in testing around the country has uncovered new COVID-19 cases, which is sort of good — in the sense that it gives health officials greater visibility into the spread of the virus and allows for more targeted mitigation measures. Overall, of course, no one wants to see COVID-19 infections increase for any reason, but I certainly had Mikkelsen’s analysis in mind when I came across news coverage of an increase in the coronavirus in about half of the US right now.
According to Mikkelsen: “While the 17% increase in daily new cases over the past week (7-day average) is getting a lot of attention, this can be explained completely by more testing as the number of daily new tests is up 23% over the past week (7-day average).”
This comes as the US, nevertheless, just hit a grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic a few days ago, with the country recently topping 200,000 deaths officially attributed to COVID-19. That’s according to the team of researchers tracking the pandemic and its casualties at Johns Hopkins University. Infections, deaths, and COVID-19 positivity rates have actually been dropping in many states in recent weeks, though public health officials like White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci have been warning repeatedly that the US is not getting its number of daily new infections down far enough to be best-prepared for the fall and winter.
That’s because we’re expected to be hit with the double whammy of flu season mixed with the continued presence of the COVID-19 virus, both of which involve respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms.
According to data from Johns Hopkins, these states comprising almost half of the US have seen their coronavirus infection rates rise over the last 7 days:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
“We’re entering into the fall and into the winter, and that means there’s going to be more indoor things than outdoor things,” Dr. Fauci said this week during The Atlantic Festival. “Going into that situation, I would like to have seen the baseline of where we are — the daily number of infections — come way, way down, and not be stuck at around 30 to 40,000 (new infections) per day.”
