In another holiday season of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are once again trying to find a way to get together and travel safely.
The latest threat is a variant of Omicron, which accounts for more than 73% of new COVID-19 infections nationwide and is forced to cancel major events and virtualize schools.
Most of the United States is in the red, showing high infection rates. Northern states such as New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama are one of the hardest hit areas. Areas with reported low infection rates include depopulated areas such as Wheeler County, Oregon, Trinity County, California, and Wayne County, Mississippi.
Vaccination efforts also vary from region to region.Vermont, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut continue to report Highest COVID-19 vaccination rate On the other hand, Idaho, Alabama and Wyoming report the worst.
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According to the United States, more than 52.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 818,000 deaths have been recorded. Data from Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there are more than 281.5 million cases and 5.4 million deaths.According to the report, more than 205 million Americans (61.8%) are fully vaccinated. CDC..
Map of COVID-19 infection levels by county
As the variants of Omicron coronavirus make up the majority of new cases, the CDC is changing their medications and defenses against the virus. On December 22, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Pfizer’s Paxrovid, a series of tablets that prevent nearly 90% of severe COVID-19 in high-risk individuals.
And on December 23, the FDA approved the use of the second antiviral drug, molnupiravir. This seems to have a 30% chance of preventing progression to a serious illness.
“When we are faced with Omicron, the National Therapeutic Medicine Cabinet gives us more options to protect Americans.” Said Jeff Seienz, Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus. “We have tools to keep people safe and we will continue to use them.
Demand for Molnupiravir comes from all states, including Texas, which is already in short supply. The Texas Department of Health announced on December 27 that there is a shortage of the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab at regional infusion centers in Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Woodlands.
The CDC continues to recommend wearing masks in public indoor environments in areas of high prevalence in the community, regardless of vaccination status.
The breakdown of the evaluation by county is as follows.
On December 27, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the time it takes to quarantine after a COVID-19 positive test and recommend quarantine after contact with a person who has been tested positive.
The new recommendations are:
isolation: For people infected with COVID-19, quarantine begins on the day the person is tested positive. The CDC currently recommends quarantining for 5 days and returning to normal activity if no symptoms are seen after that period. Initially, the quarantine period was 10 days.
quarantine: For those who are in close contact with people who test positive for COVID-19. The CDC currently recommends that vaccinated and booster shots can be skipped quarantine by wearing a face mask for at least 10 days. If a person is vaccinated and not boosted, or partially or not vaccinated at all, the CDC recommends a five-day quarantine, followed by another five days in public. Wear a mask at.
learn more: Changes to the CDC Quarantine Guidelines
Source USA TODAY Network Report and Survey. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kaiser Health News; Associated Press; nature.com
Contributions: Karen Weintraub, Janie Haseman, Mitchel Thorson, Javier Zarracina, Ramon Padilla USA TODAY,
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: CDC map of high COVID infected areas by state and county in the United States