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I mean, could the worst be over for hospitals now as well? MARTINEZ: Meantime, though, we're still hearing horror stories about hospitals being overwhelmed. But just how bad depends on what people do, you know? Do enough people finally get vaccinated? Do they wear their masks enough? Do they stay away from crowds? STEIN: Well, you know, the relatively high rates of vaccination in those places - you know, in the northern states - could be enough to keep it from getting really bad, like last winter. So Rubin's keeping a close eye on places like the upper Midwest and the Northeast, especially as the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder and people retreat back indoors. As the surge eases in the South, it could ramp up in the North, like last year. STEIN: But Rubin and others quickly cautioned that this may not last long. And they're of a sufficient magnitude and speed that we should see that reflected in the national numbers over the next couple weeks. We're certainly seeing throughout Florida, South Carolina, southern Texas in particular - but even throughout the upper South, we're starting to see conditions improve. The South is really starting to improve now. David Rubin at the University of Pennsylvania.ĭAVID RUBIN: We're likely to see some significant declines nationally. That's because the spread of the virus started slowing in many of the hardest-hit states in the South that have been driving this surge.
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The rate of new infections may have plateaued. It looks like the surge may have hit a peak and could finally be starting to subside, at least for now. Every worker's wondering about their jobs. So the - yeah, that's what everybody's wondering, right? You know, every parent is holding their breath, hoping their kids are going to stay in school.
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So where is this headed then? I mean, are things just going to go from bad to worse yet again? STEIN: And just tragic since the incredibly effective vaccines made so much of this preventable, even in the face of the delta variant. It's really stunning that this is where we are as a country.
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Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown School of Public Health.ĪSHISH JHA: The infection numbers across the country are really stunningly bad - I mean, 150-, 160,000 Americans getting infected every single day. No one thought the pandemic would still be taking this kind of toll, especially so many months after we thought the vaccines would be like the cavalry riding to the rescue. That's still not nearly as bad as things got during the darkest days of last winter, but it's still really awful. And more than 1,800 people are still dying every day from COVID-19. More than 96,000 are so sick they're in the hospital. About 150,000 people are still catching the virus every day. ROB STEIN, BYLINE: You know, the numbers are still really staggering. Rob, situation sounds and seems pretty grim, so let's just take a moment to check in on where things stand in the pandemic in this country. Joining us now to talk about the latest is NPR health correspondent Rob Stein. So far, more than 666,000 people in the U.S. The delta variant surge of the coronavirus continues to rage across the U.S., with tens of thousands of people getting infected, thousands being hospitalized and hundreds dying every day.