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CDC chief warns U.S. headed for ‘impending doom’ as Covid instances rise once more: ‘Proper now I am scared’

CDC chief warns U.S. headed for 'impending doom' as Covid cases rise again: 'Right now I'm scared'

The US faces “impending doom” as daily Covid-19 cases rise again and threaten to send more people to hospital, despite vaccinations accelerating nationwide, the head of the US Centers for Control and Prevention said of diseases on Monday.

“When I started at CDC about two months ago, I made a promise to you: I would tell you the truth if it wasn’t the news we wanted to hear. Now is one of those times when I share the truth and I have to hope and trust that you will listen, “said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a press conference.

“I’m going to pause here, I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to think about the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” Walensky said. “We can look forward to so much, so much promise and potential where we are and so much reason to hope, but right now I’m scared.”

According to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the US is seeing a weekly average of 63,239 new Covid-19 cases per day, up 16% from the previous week. Daily cases now grow at least 5% in 30 states and DC

Coronavirus hospital stays are also increasing. The US reports a 7-day average of 4,816 Covid-19 hospital admissions on Friday, up 4.2% from the previous week, according to CDC data.

Walensky urged Americans to “hold out just a little longer” and get vaccinated against the virus as soon as it is their turn. When cases come up like they have in the last week or so, Walensky said, “they often sway shortly after and bubble big”.

“I’m not necessarily speaking today as your CDC director and not just as your CDC director, but as a woman, as a mother, as a daughter, asking you to please hold on for a while,” said Walensky.

Leading public health experts have warned since late February that infections could pick up again amid the surge in virus variants threatening the US, similar to Europe.

One of these variants, first identified in the UK, known as B.1.1.7, has now been discovered in all states except Oklahoma, according to the latest data from the CDC. The CDC is also closely monitoring another variant found in New York City known as B.1.526, which is also considered more transmissible compared to previous strains, Walensky said last week.

The Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. However, Anthony Fauci said Sunday the disruptive virus mutations aren’t the only reason cases are on the rise.

More and more Americans, fed up with pandemic restrictions and reassured by the life-saving vaccines, are heading for the spring break. Some heads of state are pulling back restrictions, including masked mandates, to help slow the spread of the virus.

“We take variations seriously and are concerned, but it’s not just variations that do that,” Fauci told CBS ‘Face the Nation on Sunday.

The vaccine rollout is accelerating

Walensky’s grim warning followed an otherwise optimistic update on the country’s vaccine rollout.

The US is administering an average of 2.7 million shots per day weekly. This is “significant progress” toward President Joe Biden’s new goal of administering 200 million shots in his first 100 days in office, said Andy Slavitt, White House senior advisor on Covid Response.

“This is good news. We are on the right track, but we cannot slow down. Millions remain unvaccinated and at risk,” said Slavitt.

Over 72% of Americans age 65 and over have now received at least one dose of vaccine, while nearly half of that age group are considered fully vaccinated. More than a third of all American adults have now received at least one shot, CDC data shows.

A new study by the agency on Monday found that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were shown to be highly effective at just one dose.

The study, which examined nearly 4,000 health care workers, first responders and frontline workers between December 14 and March 1, found that vaccines were 80% effective against coronavirus infections after just a single dose.

However, federal health officials claimed two doses were better than one, adding that the vaccines’ effectiveness rose to 90% two weeks after the second shot.

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WHO warns towards gross sales of counterfeit Covid vaccines on the darkish net

WHO warns against sales of counterfeit Covid vaccines on the dark web

Small bottles labeled “Vaccine” stickers are placed near a medical syringe in front of the words “Coronavirus COVID-19” displayed in this April 10, 2020 illustration.

Given Ruvic | Reuters

The World Health Organization warned of counterfeit Covid-19 vaccines being sold on the internet during a press conference on Friday.

“We urge all people not to buy vaccines outside of government vaccination programs. Any vaccine outside of these programs can be inferior or counterfeit and potentially cause serious harm,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General.

The WHO top official said the group was also aware of reports of “criminal groups” reusing empty vaccine bottles and manipulating the supply chain for Covid vaccines.

“We urge the safe disposal or destruction of used and empty vaccine bottles to prevent them from being reused by criminal groups,” said Tedros. He urged countries and individuals to look out for suspicious vaccine sales and report them to national authorities. “The flow of information is important to identify and map global threats and protect trust in vaccines,” he said.

WHO stressed that harm from counterfeit vaccines does not reflect the safety of real vaccines.

Law enforcement agencies in the UK cataloged more than 6,000 cases of Covid-related fraud totaling £ 34.5 million (US $ 48 million) last year, the BBC reported.

Americans lost $ 382 million to fraud related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Federal Trade Commission. More than 217,000 people have filed a Covid-related fraud report with the agency since January 2020.

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CDC director warns of doable Covid surge as U.S. instances enhance by 7%

CDC director warns of possible Covid surge as U.S. cases increase by 7%

People enjoy themselves on the beach on March 4, 2021 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. College students have begun arriving in the South Florida area for the annual spring break ritual.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The US could soar again in Covid-19 cases if pandemic safety measures are not followed, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Friday.

The nation is seeing a 7-day average of about 57,000 new Covid-19 cases per day, a 7% increase from last week, said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a White House press conference on the pandemic. New hospital stays have increased “slightly” with around 4,700 admissions per day, she said.

“I am still deeply concerned about this development,” said Walensky. “We have seen cases and hospital admissions that have gone from historical declines to stagnations and increases. We know from previous waves that the epidemic curve has real potential to rise again if we don’t control things now.”

The CDC again advised against travel on Monday as business owners in Miami Beach, Florida resented the chaos over the spring break. Miami Beach officials declared a state of emergency and ordered a rare curfew over the weekend to avoid the spread of Covid-19 and stop large crowds and unruly behavior in the popular tourist destination.

US health officials have urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible, especially as highly contagious and potentially more deadly varieties continue to spread. New variants are particularly a problem for public health officials as they could become more resistant to antibody treatments and vaccines.

Last week, White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci that B.1.1.7, the highly contagious and possibly more deadly variant first identified in the UK, is likely to account for up to 30% of Covid-19 infections in the US.

As variant cases increase, the pace of vaccination in the United States has increased rapidly, receiving an average of 2.5 million doses per day for the past week, Walensky said. Approximately 87.3 million Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and approximately 47.4 million are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Urging the public to “take this moment very seriously,” Walensky added that people should continue to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart, and avoid crowds or travel. “We can change that, but we all have to work together,” she added.

– CNBC’s Will Feuer contributed to this report.

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CDC chief warns of one other Covid surge as Individuals journey for spring break

CDC chief warns of another Covid surge as Americans travel for spring break

Passengers arrive for American Airlines flights at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on February 05, 2021.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

The US could still see a renewed spike in coronavirus – even if vaccinations against Covid-19 surge across the country – as states relax restrictions and more Americans travel to spring break, the centers’ head warned disease control and prevention on Monday.

“With warmer weather coming, I know it is tempting to relax and lose our vigilance, especially after a harsh winter that unfortunately saw the most cases and deaths during the pandemic,” said CDC Director Dr . Rochelle Walensky said at a press conference.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) examined more than 1.34 million people on Sunday, 86,000 more than the same day a year ago, shortly after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic.

TSA screenings have exceeded 1 million every day since Thursday, the highest volume in a year. While air traffic is well below 2019 levels, despite the CDC’s warning of non-essential travel, more and more Americans are returning to heaven, even those who are fully vaccinated.

Although many colleges in the US have scaled back their spring break to curb parties and infection, Biden’s top government officials are still concerned about travelers “enjoying a maskless spring break,” Walensky said.

“I beg you, for the sake of the health of our nation,” Walensky said at the briefing on Monday. “The cases rose last spring, they rose again in the summer, they will climb now if we no longer take precautions, if more and more people are being vaccinated.”

Even with infections declining and vaccine adoption rapidly growing, the US continues to report a dangerously high baseline of daily cases that could be higher if Americans lose their vigilance, Biden’s top health officials have warned. Around 37.5 million people in the US, about 11% of the population, have been fully vaccinated to date, according to the CDC.

The U.S. has come a long way since early January when it hit a weekly average of just over 250,000 new cases per day. According to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the nation reports an average of 53,670 new infections per day for the past week, a 10% decrease from the previous week.

– Leslie Josephs of CNBC and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Fauci warns U.S. circumstances could ‘plateau once more at an unacceptably excessive degree’

Fauci warns U.S. cases may 'plateau again at an unacceptably high level'

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, testifies prior to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) hearing on June 30, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in Washington DC.

Kevin Dietsch | AFP via Getty Images

The Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that Covid-19 cases in the United States could plateau again at very high levels, even if the nation quickly gave three vaccines.

The decline in the number of cases observed since the beginning of January now appears to be “declining a little more slowly,” Fauci told the Center for Strategic and International Studies during an interview on Tuesday afternoon. “That means we could plateau again at an unacceptably high level.”

The nation registers at least 58,100 new Covid-19 cases and at least 1,560 virus-related deaths each day, based on a 7-day average calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. The US hit a high of nearly 250,000 cases per day in early January after the winter break. Cases have spiked before falling and plateauing two more times in the past year.

Some health professionals fear the US may see a “fourth wave” of infections as new, highly contagious varieties continue to spread and some states lift restrictions on containing the virus. Senior U.S. officials, including Fauci, say resetting restrictions too early could reverse the downward trend in infections and delay the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

“There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but we must be prepared that the road ahead of us may not be slippery,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky earlier this month.

Fauci urged Americans on Tuesday to wear masks, social distancing and get vaccinated. The virus cannot mutate if it cannot infect hosts and cannot multiply.

He also said the US is now assessing the effects of “native” varieties, including those believed to be from New York. The strain, which researchers call B.1.526, is spreading rapidly in New York City and, according to The New York Times, has a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.

Last week, Fauci said the Biden administration was taking the emergence of the New York tribe “very seriously.” He said US officials must “keep an eye on” the strain, including the possibility that it could evade protection from antibody treatments and vaccines.

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WHO scientist warns world is at ‘very dangerous’ stage as Covid instances rise

WHO scientist warns world is at 'very risky' stage as Covid cases rise

The world needs to step up its efforts to fight Covid-19 – and countries must not give up their vigilance, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist warned on Monday as coronavirus cases rise around the world.

“We are in a very risky phase,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan from the World Health Organization. “We have to double up, this is not the time to slack off.”

The WHO warned last week that the number of new Covid-19 cases is increasing with declines worldwide after six consecutive weeks. More than 2.6 million new cases were reported in the last week of February, a 7% increase from the previous week, according to the health department.

The Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, Europe and America all recorded increases of between 6% and 14%.

Although vaccines are on the rise for us in the nation, we cannot give up our vigilance.

Julie Morita

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

“This is partly due to lockdown fatigue, you know. It’s because people … may loosen up believing vaccines are on the way,” Swaminathan told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Monday. New variants could also play a role, she added.

“We have to … do everything we know to keep these viruses under control, keep transmission under control until we have enough vaccines,” she said, warning health systems could become overloaded again.

“Health workers around the world are exhausted, they have been battling it for over a year now,” she added.

Other health professionals have also suggested that it is not time to get complacent.

Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said it was important to realize that infections, hospitalizations and deaths are still high even after falling from their peaks in the US

“It is still necessary that we wear our masks, social distance, avoid large crowds while we are vaccinated,” she told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Monday.

“Although vaccines are on the rise for us in the nation, we cannot give up our vigilance,” she said. “It’s way too early to relax.”

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World News

Fauci Warns Coronavirus Instances May Spike as States Ease Restrictions

Fauci Warns Coronavirus Cases Could Spike as States Ease Restrictions

The B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the UK, is spreading so rapidly in the US that data analysis suggests it will most likely account for 20 percent of new US cases as of this week. And scientists in Oregon have identified a single case of a native variant with the same spine as B.1.1.7 that has a mutation that could affect vaccine effectiveness.

Earlier this week, Texas and Mississippi, both Republican-led states, lifted mask mandates. President Biden denounced these moves as a “big mistake” reflecting “Neanderthal thinking” and said it was vital for officials to follow directions from doctors and public health executives when the coronavirus vaccination campaign begins Dynamism gains.

Other Republicans were more cautious. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he will lift all public health measures to contain the virus crisis, but only if new cases there fall below a certain threshold. In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey said she would extend the state’s mask mandate through April 9.

In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey has adopted what is known as a “measured approach,” which prohibits local executives from taking any action that closes businesses and allows sports to be restarted in major leagues if approved by the state health department become.

Among the Democrats, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that she would relax restrictions on businesses and allow family members who tested negative for the coronavirus to visit nursing home residents. In California, the state health department also eased some restrictions on Friday, stating that limited amusement parks could reopen as early as April 1.

In New York City, limited indoor dining has returned. And on Thursday, the Connecticut governor said the state would end capacity restrictions on restaurants, gyms and offices later this month. Masks remain required in both places.

Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has urged states not to relax their restrictions just yet. A new report from the CDC found that districts where restaurants in the US could be opened for personal meals saw an increase in daily infections weeks later. The study also said counties that issued mask mandates reported a decrease in virus cases and deaths within weeks.

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WHO warns of uptick in Covid instances globally after weeks of decline

WHO warns of uptick in Covid cases globally after weeks of decline

Medical workers move a patient to the intensive care unit of Sotiria Hospital as part of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on March 1, 2021 in Athens, Greece.

Giorgos Moutafis | Reuters

World Health Organization officials said Wednesday that scientists are trying to understand why Covid-19 cases are suddenly popping up in much of the world after weeks of infection.

2.6 million new cases were reported worldwide last week, up 7% from the previous week, the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update, which reflects data received on Sunday morning. That follows six consecutive weeks of declining new cases around the world.

The reversal could be caused by the emergence of several new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus, easing public policies and what is known as pandemic fatigue, where people are tired of taking precautionary measures, the WHO said in its weekly report. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of emerging diseases and zoonosis, said Wednesday during a question and answer session at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva that the global health agency is trying to better understand what is reversing the trend in each region and each Land caused.

“I can tell you that we are concerned about the introduction of vaccines and vaccinations in a number of countries. We still need people to do their actions on an individual level,” she said, urging people to exercise physical distancing practice and continue wearing masks when they are around others.

“Given this week-long increase in trends, it’s a pretty stern warning to all of us that we need to stay on course,” said Van Kerkhove. “We must continue to adhere to these measures.”

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, suggested the increase could be because “we may relax a little before we get the full effect of vaccination”. He added that he understood the temptation to socialize and return to more normal behavior, but “the problem is every time we did that before the virus took advantage of it.”

Ryan reiterated that the cause of the surge in the cases remains unclear, but added that the tried and tested public health measures highlighted during the pandemic are still in effect.

“When the cases are decreasing it’s never all we do and when they are increasing it’s never all our fault,” he said.

Ryan noted that deaths have not yet risen with the cases, but that could change in the coming weeks. Hopefully, vaccinating those most severely affected by the disease could prevent an increase in deaths.

While the introduction of vaccines in some countries gives cause for optimism, Ryan noted that many nations around the world have not yet received doses. He said 80% of the doses were given in just 10 countries.

WHO’s remarks are consistent with those recently made by federal officials in the United States. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been warning for days that the decline in new cases every day in the United States has stalled and increased.

In the past seven days, the United States reported an average of more than 65,400 new cases a day, according to Johns Hopkins University. That’s well below the high of about 250,000 new cases per day the country reported in early January, but it’s still well above the infection rate the US saw the summer when the virus swept the sun belt.

“At this level of cases where variants spread, we will completely lose the hard-earned ground we won,” Walensky said on Monday. “With these statistics, I’m really concerned that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from Covid-19.”

“Please listen to me clearly: at this level of cases with spreading variant, we are going to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” she said.

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CDC director warns decline in Covid circumstances could have stalled as variants unfold

Government does not know how much Covid vaccine the U.S. has

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, selected as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during an event at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, December 8, 2020.

Susan Walsh | AP

The decline in Covid-19 cases reported in the US since early January could level off, a worrying shift as highly communicable variants pose a risk of exacerbation of infections, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.

“In the past few weeks, cases and hospital admissions in the US have decreased since early January, and deaths have decreased over the past week,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a press conference. “However, the latest data suggests that these declines may stall and possibly weaken if a number is still very high.”

According to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the nation reports a daily average of around 73,376 new cases for the past week, a slight increase compared to a week ago. The US hit a high of nearly 250,000 cases per day in early January after the winter break.

The recent postponement could be a sign that new, highly transmittable variants of the coronavirus are starting to take hold, Walensky said. A variant, known as B.1.1.7 and first found in the UK, is expected to be the predominant variety in mid to late March, experts have predicted.

The B.1.1.7 variant appears to be causing about 10% of new Covid-19 cases in the US, up from just 1% a few weeks ago, Walensky said. However, some states have more cases of the highly communicable variant than others.

Senior U.S. health officials have warned in recent weeks that the variants could reverse the current downward trend in infections in the U.S. and delay the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

The head of the federal health department said states shouldn’t start lifting restrictions on businesses and gatherings given the direction of the fall and the high prevalence of virus.

“I want to be clear: cases, hospital admissions and deaths are still very high, and the recent postponement of the pandemic must be taken extremely seriously,” said Walensky.

The Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci said the nation will be in “a precarious position” if the number of new cases every day starts to surge to around 70,000.

“We need to carefully consider what happens to these numbers over the next few weeks before you see the understandable need to relax with certain restrictions,” said Fauci.

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Business

Porsche CEO warns of ‘very severe’ international chip scarcity

Porsche CEO warns of 'very serious' global chip shortage

The CEO of Porsche warned on Monday that the daily operations of the German luxury car maker could be affected by a “very serious” global semiconductor shortage in the coming months.

“The semiconductor issue is very serious, as the entire industry is affected by the great demand for consumer electronics and the faster return of the automotive sector,” said Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, on Monday to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”.

“We could be affected every day, so we will be watching very closely over the next few days and months what we can do. We have to relax in the short term and look for long-term measures.”

His comments come after a sudden surge in global auto sales late last year that coincided with a lack of essential chip components. The delivery bottlenecks brought the assembly lines of the chip-dependent automotive industry to a standstill and stopped the production of hundreds of thousands of vehicles worldwide.

Demand for these chips or semiconductors has increased during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers bought game consoles, laptops and televisions in an era of limited mobility.

Many of these products – including certain Chromebook laptops and next-generation consoles like the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 – are either sold out or have long lead times.

Supply chains

According to analysts, the chip shortage has hit the automotive industry particularly hard because of the industry’s “just-in-time” supply chain that the automotive industry has relied on for decades to save capital.

When asked whether Porsche could be forced to rethink this supply chain model, Blume replied: “Yes. This is very important for the future in order to think about the supply chain.”

“We have to think about which storage we really need for all these stocks. We have to be more flexible and plan the immediate capacities more precisely.”

The Porsche shares listed in the German Xetra Dax index have risen by 15% since the beginning of the year. The share price has barely changed in the past 12 months.

– CNBC’s Sam Shead contributed to this report.