“We’re going to continue to press on with the strategies that are working in Arizona,” he said. “There’s no victory lap today, there’s no celebration. We cannot let up.”
Waiting Game
On Monday, coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 1.3% compared with the same time Sunday to 4.27 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The increase was below the average 1.7% daily gain over the past week.
Cases are still rising sharply in many states, including California and most of the South. And even in states where infections appear to be leveling off, the numbers remain high enough to strain hospitals and their staff.
Many public officials say that the newfound commitment to masks and distancing won’t be enough to keep Americans safe until the advent of a vaccine. There are multiple companies in the race to develop a shot, but one may not be available until next year -- if at all.
Improved testing -- and faster turnaround times for test results -- are crucial to containing the virus until then, said Helen Boucher, chief of infectious diseases at the Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
“We need to have tests that are reliable, and that give us results in what I would call an actionable time frame,” she said. This means getting results in a day. She described waiting a week or longer as a “disaster,” because by the time people get the outcome back, the opportunity to isolate and do contact tracing has been missed.
“I’m frankly really perplexed that it’s July and we’re having the same conversation about testing that we were having in March,” she said.
You’re Out
The outbreak in Major League Baseball, after only a few days of the truncated 60-game season, showed how difficult it is to contain the disease. It came despite carefully controlled conditions and in a population that is young and by definition athletic and fit.
The league in June hammered out safety protocols that run more than 100 pages. Players are to be tested every other day, and their conduct both on the field and in the dugout faces restrictions that fly in the face of tradition. High-fives are out, as is spitting or getting within 6 feet of an umpire in an argument.
Cases still popped up around the league. Then came news that 12 players and two coaches of the Miami Marlins had tested positive. The league postponed games between the Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles and between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies, who had just completed a three-day series with Miami.