After weeks of shutdown, several U.S. states are slowly lifting stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders.
By May 10, at least 43 states will have completely or partially reopened, lifting some restrictions ranging simply opening state parks to allowing some businesses to restart. (CNN has compiled a list of the stand of 50 states on reopening here.)
With more than half the country in the first stage of reopening, an influential coronavirus model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, is now forecasting almost double the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the country.
The model, which is often cited by the White House, had predicted 72,433 deaths as of Monday (May 4) morning. With relaxed social distancing and increased mobility coming into effect, the new forecast now puts the number at 134,000 possible deaths from the virus.
IHME director Dr. Christopher Murray says that states have to balance their actions. “I think the challenge for us all is to figure out what’s the trajectory of relaxing social distancing on a measured pace that will protect us from big increases or even a full-scale resurgence,” he said.
The country’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has also expressed that easing restrictions may come with a heavy price.
“It’s the balance of something that’s a very difficult choice,” Dr. Fauci said. “How many deaths and how much suffering are you willing to accept to get back to what you want to be some form of normality, sooner rather than later?”
According to new data from the ADP Research Institute, 20.2 million jobs have already been lost over the month of April. But, in Monmouth University’s recently conducted poll, 56% said the more important factor should be making sure as few people as possible get infected, while 33% saying economic concerns should be the top priority.
There’s been more than 1.2 Million cases of coronavirus infections reported in the U.S., and 71,000 recorded coronavirus-related deaths. However, on a more positive note, more people have recovered than succumbed to the virus – the U.S. has seen almost 190,000 recoveries to date.
Still, the rate of infection remains at a plateau. Based on a New York Times report, as certain areas see a decline in the number of new cases, new hotspots for the virus emerge.
The number of known coronavirus cases has continued to rise – global numbers are nearing the 4 Million mark, with over a quarter of a million people succumbing to the widespread illness plaguing countries across the globe. (source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center)
As the battle against the pandemic continues, pharmaceutical companies are in a race to find a vaccine.
Pfizer, who is working on a set of coronavirus vaccines in collaboration with BioNTech, has just started human trials, testing four vaccine candidates at various dose strengths on healthy volunteers in the U.S.
According to Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, the testing plan could allow for emergency use or accelerated approval this fall.
There are over 100 vaccines in development – 20 are expected to start trials this year.
