Cases are decreasing but are decelerating and our national average is plateauing. And, to make matters worse, plateauing at the height of our second highest peak (July 2020).
Importantly, some have attributed this plateau to testing lags. The winter storm caused many testing sites and labs to close, so this wobbling data is an indication that we are still catching up from that. We can especially see that in the South, where this data blip is most defined. This should stabilize within the week.
However, I’m having a hard time being convinced that this fully explains the deceleration, especially on a national level: 17 states are increasing in cases; 21 are plateauing; and 13 are decreasing. And increasing states are peppered throughout the nation; there isn’t really a pattern that could be explained, fully, by storms.
I hope I’m wrong and this continues to decrease. Nonetheless, we need to keep an eye on this. Especially as variants start to gain momentum and considering Spring Break is around the corner.
Vaccination rates are going swimmingly. In the United States, 76.9 million doses are in arms. In the last week, an average of 1.82 million doses per day were administered. 15.3% of our population has at least one dose; 5.5% of our population has two doses. Vaccinations won’t impact our case numbers yet, but we are continuing to see vaccines’ impact on death among the most vulnerable population: those in long-term care facilities.
Our hard work is also paying off with vaccine hesitancy. Kaiser just published results on their national survey (although the right side of that bar chart is driving me nuts because they don’t align, so interpret with caution). In short, more and more people are wanting the vaccine as soon as they can.
And Texas is… being Texas.
Yesterday, Houston was the first U.S. city to have detected all 5 concerning variants
I predicted that Texas transmission will increase due to the storm. For more on my reasoning, check out NPR and the New York Times. Although, I’m fully aware that my experience could bias my prediction. Again, I hope I’m wrong.
Cases in Texas are increasing, but we need to wait about one more week for this data to stabilize. Interpret case and testing numbers with caution.
Love, YLE