The Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.), Dr. Robert Redfield, warned on Wednesday that the next few months of the coronavirus pandemic may become "the most difficult in the public health history of this nation."
The United States on Wednesday crossed its bleakest coronavirus milestone yet; there are over 100,000 patients with COVID infection currently in the hospital. That is more than double the amount of patients hospitalized a month earlier, according to data compiled by The COVID Tracking Project. Of those hospitalized at this time, over 19,000 are in the Intensive Care Unit and nearly 6,900 on a ventilator, which is near the over 7,000 peak in May.
The nation is averaging over 160,000 cares per day and 1,500 daily new deaths. On Wednesday, the nation nearly recorded 200,000 new cases.
Speaking at an event focused hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Redfield noted that nearly all of the nation's long-term care facilities are located in areas that are showing disturbingly high levels of viral spread. Grimer still most of the country's hospital systems are in these areas of high infection rates.
"We are at a very critical time right now about being able to maintain the resilience of our health-care system," Redfield told U.S. Chamber President Suzanne Clark. "The reality is December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they're going to be the most difficult in the public history of this nation, largely because of the stress that's going to be put on our health-care system."
Redfield noted that one factor that makes the coronavirus pandemic so dangerous is that the virus spreads largely through asymptomatic individuals, or spreads before those who are infected develop symptoms. This has led to what Redfield called "the silent epidemic," or the widespread outbreak of the virus throughout younger populations that are less impacted by severe infection. This outbreak then in turn spreads to older populations, who are more vulnerable to severe or fatal coronavirus infections, when the asymptomatic individual visits their family and loved ones.
The light at the end of the tunnel, Redfield said, is that there are multiple promising vaccines--like the ones developed by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA)--that will most likely be available to Americans by the end of the year. However, Redfield warned that viral mitigation measures--like social restrictions and fascial coverings--well into next year.