Most Americans believe the COVD-19 pandemic is over, with many citizens running rampant without a mask. In fact, New York City is planning a mega-concert in Central Park in August.
But Chris Wilson, a director of data journalism at Time, thinks we may be having a memory loss. He wrote an article on Time, explaining that the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic is still bad and it could get worse.
“Let’s start from this time last year when many Americans were exuberantly returning to newly reopened beaches, parks, and restaurants after a seemingly eternal three months—three whole months!—of quarantine,” Wilson wrote. “Universal observance of safety guidelines was surely going to be sufficient to limit viral spread.”
“We know how that turned out,” he added. “By mid-June 2020, there were already signs that our bleary-eyed re-emergence was premature. On June 22, 2020, the number of new daily cases of COVID-19 (33,485) surpassed the high-water mark hit on the worst day of the horrific first surge, when that figure peaked at just over 32,000.”
Wilson is the author of RaphaelJS: Graphics and Visualization on the Web.
Citing the ups and downs in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, he said, “My fear is that the pandemic remains much more deadly than how it looks on the page. Yes, deaths remain on a steady decline, having recently sunk below 300 people a day on average for the first time since March 24, 2020, right around the time that many offices were shuttering.”
“But a surge in cases, particularly among the large number of unvaccinated Americans, could quickly reverse that decline,” Wilson added.
He said the nationwide vaccine rollout has played a key role in declining the number of cases, but it is “difficult to quantify the impact of vaccination on the currently low case and death figures.”
Wilson is concerned that the country is on the verge of yet another surge in cases, despite defensive upgrades in the off-season. He wrote, “I hope I’m wrong, but the numbers are not nearly as comforting as they first look.”
“The Delta variant, which is both more transmissible and appears to cause more severe disease, is on pace to become the dominant form of COVID-19 in the U.S. in the coming months is further reason for alarm,” he added. “Moreover, some states have significantly higher vaccination rates than others, leaving those with less protection more vulnerable to future spikes.” To know more what Wilson has to say, read his article titled, “The U.S. COVID-19 Outbreak Is Still Bad—And it Could Get Worse,” which is published Wednesday on Time.
