Ishita Roy

US Reports More Than 2000 COVID-19 Deaths In 28 Days, Why Is It Still A Threat?

COVID-19 still a health threat in the US

It has been five years since the COVID-19 virus was declared a public health emergency by the United States. However, even five years later, the virus continues to kill thousands of people. At least 2,861 deaths from the virus was reported in the last 28 years. As per experts, it is because COVID, on its arrival, came to the humankind new, however, now it has been integrated into our way of life. Experts also believe that COVID is not going away anytime soon, rather, going to cause a "substantial amount of illness each year".

While the good thing is, there is no health emergency now, but the bad news is that COVID is still a constant presence. The virus is persistent and moves continuously, it had never vanished. COVID virus has the ability to mutate itself and still infect humans.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), since 2020, 7 million lives have been lost to this virus. However, due to WHO's efforts and following the protocols of social distancing, wearing masks and introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines led to the declaration of COVID as a virus which is "no longer a global health emergency." Despite this, it did not mean that COVID-19 would be immediately disregarded. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "It is with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency. However, that does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat."

Of the 2,861 deaths worldwide due to the virus, US alone had 2,100 deaths. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, hospitalizations and emergency visits have also increased. This is also due to people not taking the vaccination. In the US, COVID-19 vaccines are available for adults and children, however, the vaccination rates are low. As per the CDC data, as of January 4, less than 25% adults were vaccinated. 

Experts believe that it is unfortunate for those who did not get vaccinated as it is the single most important preventive measure against the COVID-19 virus.

In fact, many patients have also experienced long COVID, which means the symptoms persisted for years after the initial infection. Researchers have also estimated that 10 to 35% of people who had COVID-19 went on to have long COVID. As per the experts, if one wants to get rid of the long COVID, the answer is in the vaccines. 

Another reason why it is important to keep up with vaccine and its booster shots is due to the mutating properties of the virus. As per research, COVID-19 itself is a change of genetic code of SARS-CoV-2, which means it is a mutated virus or a variant itself. Due to its high transmission rates, scientists believe that it is capable of creating more than 42 mutations in the spike protein. 

Some of these variants can spread more quickly than the Delta variation. This was the first variant recorded in October 2020 from India, and is the most dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, which accounted for 99% of infection from around the world. 

From November 2021, Omicron variants have also shown a large number of mutation in spike protein, reinfection especially in South Africa.

WHO named the variants after the letters of the Greek Alphabet which makes it easier to be discussed with the non-scientific audience. Here is a list of variants detected from around the world:

<ul><li>Alpha in United Kingdom in September 2020</li><li>Beta in South Africa in May 2020</li><li>Gamma in Brazil in November 2020</li><li>Delta in India in October 2020</li><li>Epsilion in India in October 2020</li><li>Zeta in Brazil in April 2020</li><li>Eta in multiple countries in December 2020</li><li>Theta in Philippines in January 2021</li><li>Iota in the United States in November 2020</li><li>Kappa in India in October 2020</li><li>Lamba in Peru in December 2020</li><li>Mu in Colombia in January 2021</li><li>Omicron in multiple countries in November 2021</li></ul>

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It has been five years since the COVID-19 virus was declared a public health emergency by the United States. However, even five years later, the virus continues to kill thousands of people. At least 2,861 deaths from the virus was reported in the last 28 years. As per experts, it is because COVID, on its arrival, came to the humankind new, however, now it has been integrated into our way of life. Experts also believe that COVID is not going away anytime soon, rather, going to cause a "substantial amount of illness each year".While the good thing is, there is no health emergency now, but the bad news is that COVID is still a constant presence. The virus is persistent and moves continuously, it had never vanished. COVID virus has the ability to mutate itself and still infect humans. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), since 2020, 7 million lives have been lost to this virus. However, due to WHO's efforts and following the protocols of social distancing, wearing masks and introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines led to the declaration of COVID as a virus which is "no longer a global health emergency." Despite this, it did not mean that COVID-19 would be immediately disregarded. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "It is with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency. However, that does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat."COVID-19, still a threat?Of the 2,861 deaths worldwide due to the virus, US alone had 2,100 deaths. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, hospitalizations and emergency visits have also increased. This is also due to people not taking the vaccination. In the US, COVID-19 vaccines are available for adults and children, however, the vaccination rates are low. As per the CDC data, as of January 4, less than 25% adults were vaccinated. Experts believe that it is unfortunate for those who did not get vaccinated as it is the single most important preventive measure against the COVID-19 virus.In fact, many patients have also experienced long COVID, which means the symptoms persisted for years after the initial infection. Researchers have also estimated that 10 to 35% of people who had COVID-19 went on to have long COVID. As per the experts, if one wants to get rid of the long COVID, the answer is in the vaccines. COVID-19 MutationAnother reason why it is important to keep up with vaccine and its booster shots is due to the mutating properties of the virus. As per research, COVID-19 itself is a change of genetic code of SARS-CoV-2, which means it is a mutated virus or a variant itself. Due to its high transmission rates, scientists believe that it is capable of creating more than 42 mutations in the spike protein. Some of these variants can spread more quickly than the Delta variation. This was the first variant recorded in October 2020 from India, and is the most dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, which accounted for 99% of infection from around the world. From November 2021, Omicron variants have also shown a large number of mutation in spike protein, reinfection especially in South Africa. SARS-CoV-2 VariantsWHO named the variants after the letters of the Greek Alphabet which makes it easier to be discussed with the non-scientific audience. Here is a list of variants detected from around the world:Alpha in United Kingdom in September 2020Beta in South Africa in May 2020Gamma in Brazil in November 2020Delta in India in October 2020Epsilion in India in October 2020Zeta in Brazil in April 2020Eta in multiple countries in December 2020Theta in Philippines in January 2021Iota in the United States in November 2020Kappa in India in October 2020Lamba in Peru in December 2020Mu in Colombia in January 2021Omicron in multiple countries in November 2021