For the past several weeks there has been hope on the front of COVID-19 containment, as the daily amount of new cases dropped around 70 percent. Increased rollout of vaccines and promises of herd immunity have added to the optimism. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but is that light yet another COVID wave as new and stronger variants of the virus continue to matriculate throughout the world? Not to mention even now the 7-day rolling average in the United States is at about 70,000, considered alarming numbers back in late October. Then there are the numbers that came out over the past two days per Worldometer. New U.S. cases: Feb. 15 - 57,209
Feb. 22 - 59,614 Feb. 16 - 66,324
Feb. 23 - 71,054
U.S. deaths: Feb. 15 - 939
Feb. 22 - 1,378 Feb. 16 - 1,811 Feb. 23 - 2,404 This data is just for the past two days, comparing Sunday numbers to the previous Sunday and likewise for Monday numbers. But any trend showing a sudden 30 percent spike on the amount of deaths, even over just two days, throws cold water on notions that the worst is over. Then there was Dr. Deborah Birx's (pictured) prediction made last March 30 of 200,000 deaths in the United States even if the reaction was handled perfectly. At the close of business Tuesday the U.S. death toll stands at 515,000. With roughly five percent of the world's population, the U.S. now accounts for 20 percent of the casualty count. With weekday deaths now back over 2,000 - the math dictates the very real possibility of one million deaths by this time in 2022, that would translate into one death per 332 U.S. citizens.
The public has become numb to numbers, but COVID-19 has impacted the world much more even against original dire projections. The numbers that come out over the rest of this week could dictate health and safety narratives for the rest of 2021.