Biden urges states to pause COVID-19 reopenings as CDC warns of 'impending doom'

[webfact]

U.S. President Joe Biden, ‪with Vice President Kamala Harris,‬ delivers remarks after a meeting with his COVID-19 Response Team on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the state of vaccinations, on the White House campus in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

By Jeff Mason and Carl O'Donnell

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden urged states to pause reopening efforts and a top health official warned of "impending doom" on Monday, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that threaten efforts to quash the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Biden said 90% of U.S. adults would be eligible for vaccination by April 19, and 90% of Americans would have a vaccination center within five miles (8 km) of their homes by then, as his team ramps up its drive to get vaccine shots in people's arms.

 

But the administration issued a stark warning: cases are rising, hospitalizations are increasing, and deaths are multiplying from the disease that has already killed roughly 550,000 people in the United States.

 

"I'm reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate," Biden said. "We still are in a war with this deadly virus. And we're bolstering our defenses, but this war's far from won."

 

Asked if states should pause re-opening efforts, Biden said "yes."

 

Some parts of the United States have done away with mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions altogether, and Americans have gotten out to travel more as pandemic fatigue takes hold.

 

Those relaxations come as thousands still die from the disease every week. U.S. officials are concerned that a fourth major surge of cases could be on its way.

 

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with emotion in her voice, urged public officials and others to spread the word about the seriousness of the situation.

 

The United States surpassed 30 million total cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, and the seven-day average of new cases was slightly less than 60,000 per day, she said. That represents a 10% increase compared with the prior seven-day period.

 

U.S. officials pleaded with Americans on Monday to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid an increase in cases across the country, as President Joe Biden announced more Americans would be eligible to be vaccinated soon. Freddie Joyner has more.

 

"I'm going to lose the script and I'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom," Walensky told a briefing with reporters. "Right now I'm scared."

 

Officials cited states opening up their economies and loosening pandemic restrictions prematurely, along with an increase in travel, as reasons for the uptick.

 

Fast re-opening states, such as Texas and Florida, have seen higher-risk behaviors, like in-person dining, rise to near-2019 levels. The Texas Rangers baseball team is allowing full capacity at its 40,000-seat stadium in April.

 

Walensky said the trajectory of the pandemic in the United States looked similar to countries in Europe, such as Germany, Italy and France, which have experienced a recent spike in cases.

 

"We do not have the luxury of inaction. For ... the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge," she said.

 

Biden has set a goal of getting 200 million vaccine shots in people's arms in his first 100 days in office, and vaccinations are increasing across the country.

 

The White House said the administration would increase the number of pharmacies giving vaccines to nearly 40,000 from 17,000 nationwide and establish additional mass vaccination sites by April 19.

 

Evercore ISI analyst Michael Newshel said in a research note that expansion could lead to an additional 2 million doses of vaccine administered per day as supplies ramp up.

 

"Hang in there," said infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci about maintaining protective measures. "It will be a race between the vaccine and what's going on with the dynamics of the outbreak, and we can win this by just hanging in there a bit longer."

 

The administration officials discouraged nonessential travel and encouraged continued mask-wearing and keeping social distance to stop the spread of the virus and its dangerous variants.

 

Asked about Biden's own travel for business and personal reasons, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said he flew on Air Force One, which she noted was not the same as commercial travel.

 

Biden, who has been vaccinated, has been returning to his home state of Delaware or to the presidential retreat Camp David on weekends, and visiting other states for business trips during his first two months in office.

 

The White House said it expected the private sector to take the lead on the verification of COVID-19 vaccinations or so-called vaccine passports, and would not issue a federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.

 

The Biden administration was currently reviewing the issue and would make recommendations, Psaki told reporters, adding, "We believe it will be driven by the private sector."

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Carl O'Donnell; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Andrea Shalal, Howard Schneider, Caroline Humer and Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Marguerita Choy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-30

 

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[RichardColeman]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

U.S. President Joe Biden urged states to pause reopening efforts and a top health official warned of "impending doom" on Monday, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that threaten efforts to quash the coronavirus pandemic.

That include the Mexican borders too ? Maybe he should pause in his efforts there for  little while until covid in the USA dies down a bit. 

[rgraham]

Well he is supposed to be the leader of the doom and gloom party!

[simple1]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

That include the Mexican borders too ? Maybe he should pause in his efforts there for  little while until covid in the USA dies down a bit. 

Biden has already informed 'don't come' until resources and facilities are in-place.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

Biden is doing such a good job with Covid. His efforts contrast significantly with recent revelations regarding team Trump. 

I find it hard to believe that, given how fast the vaccine is being rolled out, people would not prefer to be a bit careful for a short while to save their own lives and those of others. Life for many is back to normal despite 1500 covid deaths as recently as 24 March. Funny americans.

[Chomper Higgot]

7 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Biden is doing such a good job with Covid. His efforts contrast significantly with recent revelations regarding team Trump. 

I find it hard to believe that, given how fast the vaccine is being rolled out, people would not prefer to be a bit careful for a short while to save their own lives and those of others. Life for many is back to normal despite 1500 covid deaths as recently as 24 March. Funny americans.

I agree, but don’t get your hopes up that life is going back to normal.

 

The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions will reveal how much life has changed.

[PatOngo]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

cases are rising, hospitalizations are increasing, and deaths are multiplying from the disease that has already killed roughly 550,000 people in the United States.

What is wrong with the "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave?" They just don't seem to get it!

[CharlieH]

Reported post of misinformation has been removed.

[impulse]

To a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.  To the CDC, every problem looks medical.  That totally neglects the economic and quality of life aspects of what's been going on.

 

Looks like we need to mandate all food be prepared so it can be eaten through a straw.  And ban contact with water.  Makes about as much sense as crippling an entire economy, bankrupting millions and derailing the careers of tens of millions for a disease that has (arguably at that) killed 1/6 of 1% of the population- most of them elderly with underlying health conditions.

 

Locking down made sense when we didn't know what "it" was.  For a few weeks to flatten the curve.  Not forever.  Plus, there's 50 different states with 50 different policies -and lots of municipalities that went different ways- and some of the states with loosest policies are doing a lot better than some of the states with the tightest.

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[candide]

BTW the facts are:

Heart deseases in the U.S. : one year 655 K

Covid 19: one year 550K

 

Additional clue  for you: heart deseases are not contagious

Edited March 30, 2021 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[pedro01]

11 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Biden is doing such a good job with Covid. His efforts contrast significantly with recent revelations regarding team Trump. 

I find it hard to believe that, given how fast the vaccine is being rolled out, people would not prefer to be a bit careful for a short while to save their own lives and those of others. Life for many is back to normal despite 1500 covid deaths as recently as 24 March. Funny americans.

 

Biden needs to own these new COVID numbers. He said he'd fix it but its getting worse on his watch.

[placeholder]

Growing Share of Americans Say They Plan To Get a COVID-19 Vaccine – or Already Have

 

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/03/05/growing-share-of-americans-say-they-plan-to-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-or-already-have/

Edited March 30, 2021 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[unblocktheplanet]

Thailand is not the US. We've been lucky so far. But I hope folks will take a long look at what opening too early really means.

 

I'm 71. I'm not afraid of dying, of Covid or all else. Just want it to be quick & don't want to spend the time I've got left hugely debilitated by this virus.

[Tug]

unfortunately I’m seeing more covidiots at the store my experience is seeing roughly 95% compliance with masks let’s hope that improves please everyone keep your guard up for 3 more months follow protocols and we can put this scourge behind us in the developed world then hopefully we can be more proactive in the developing world once our own house is in order!

Edited March 30, 2021 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[onthedarkside]

Several trolling posts and a disallowed social media post have been removed, along with various replies to those.

 

[Stargeezr]

The USA has been losing people to this corona virus, because of their attitude, and stubbornness.  The give me liberty,

or my freedom is my right attitude, and refusing to mask up, or socially distance or just being extra cautious, is causing them

to still be losing so much of their population.  The public crowds for what ever their causes have been,   have not helped 

the situation either.  I am glad that President Biden is not holding weekly,  rah rah crowd gatherings,  like Trump seemed to

be doing for so long.  I am still thinking that a million Americans will be dead because of the covid 19 virus as well as what

ever the other causes that take a lot of lives each year.  It would seem that a lot of them still will not take this virus serious enough.                                                                         It will be a good day when everyone will have been vaccinated, and hopefully the virus will die off in the next 3 to 5 years.  

Geezer

[Rimmer]

Some defamatory and off topic posts about <deleted> have been removed. The topic is about:

 

Biden urges states to pause COVID-19 reopenings as CDC warns of 'impending doom'

 

Also removed was a social media video post from a disallowed source, and several replies.

 

Note the forum's policy:

 

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[pedro01]

7 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

The USA has been losing people to this corona virus, because of their attitude, and stubbornness.  The give me liberty,

or my freedom is my right attitude, and refusing to mask up, or socially distance or just being extra cautious, is causing them

to still be losing so much of their population.  The public crowds for what ever their causes have been,   have not helped 

the situation either.  I am glad that President Biden is not holding weekly,  rah rah crowd gatherings,  like Trump seemed to

be doing for so long.  I am still thinking that a million Americans will be dead because of the covid 19 virus as well as what

ever the other causes that take a lot of lives each year.  It would seem that a lot of them still will not take this virus serious enough.                                                                         It will be a good day when everyone will have been vaccinated, and hopefully the virus will die off in the next 3 to 5 years.  

Geezer

 

I think its because they are fat. You have the highest mortality in a country with  one of the highest rates of obesity.

[Sujo]

21 hours ago, pedro01 said:

 

Biden needs to own these new COVID numbers. He said he'd fix it but its getting worse on his watch.

you blame biden for states refusing to follow his recommendations?

[pedro01]

16 minutes ago, Sujo said:

you blame biden for states refusing to follow his recommendations?

 

I blame Biden for the impending Doom - he's the president - buck stops there, right?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The CDC has just offered a new perspective on the provisional (how many lives were needlessly lost?) U.S. CV death count during 2020 under Trump:

 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7014e1.htm?s_cid=mm7014e1_w

 

From the above CDC new report:

"The age-adjusted death rate increased by 15.9% in 2020.... COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death, and the COVID-19 death rate was highest among Hispanics.

...

Limited availability of testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic might have resulted in an underestimation of COVID-19–associated deaths.

 

 

 

The two charts above are from the same CDC report and website:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7014e1.htm?s_cid=mm7014e1_w

 

Let's hope 2021 is a better year with sensible leadership and hopefully a successful widespread vaccination campaign to dramatically curtail CV fatalities.

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Slorfax]

On 3/30/2021 at 6:55 AM, pedro01 said:

 

Biden needs to own these new COVID numbers. He said he'd fix it but its getting worse on his watch.

Does he have a lever that controls it? ???? He had quite a mess to clean up since the previous administration politicized things as simple as taking proper precautions and getting vaccinated. There was no coherent messaging on the federal level, there was no clear information on the safety of vaccines, and hospitals couldn't get the equipment they needed. At least there's some focus to addressing COVID now, which is good since this Delta variant seems worse than the original.