A spike in Covid infections prompts the return of masks to some US hospitals

At least five hospitals 50 US states has once again demanded the use of Mask Due to increased infection of COVID-19, Flu and other respiratory diseases.

California, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Massachusetts There are some states where healthcare facilities have made the use of masks mandatory for both patients and staff. medical staff.

(Keep reading: Why does Covid-19 keep putting people to bed?).

This Thursday, the Johns Hopkins hospital group, one of Maryland’s largest, sent an email to notify its patients that mask use will once again be mandatory.

In any case, the increase in infections in the United States is difficult to measure because many states have stopped collecting data and the only federal agency that continues to publish statistics on the virus’s impact is the federal government. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This CDC data shows that, four years after the SARS-CoV-2 virus arrived in the United States, hundreds of people continue to die each week in the country.

(Also: WHO expresses concern about Covid-19 in Northern Hemisphere: here are the reasons).

About 1,500 deaths a week

Specifically, according to the CDC, in the week of December 9, 2023, the last with complete data, 1,614 deaths from Covid-19 were reported. On average, over the last few weeks with complete data, there were about 1,488 weekly deaths.

Although this number of deaths from Covid-19 is high, it is lower than the record 25,974 deaths recorded in the week ending January 9, 2021.

On the other hand, flu was the leading cause of 163 deaths in the week ending December 9, 2023, according to the CDC.

Since the virus reached the United States, more than 1.1 million people have died from Covid-19 in the country, a proportion higher than in other developed countries, according to the CDC.

EFE

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