“It’s not complicated to explain. All of that opening up, so many people taking off their masks, gathering together in bars and parties, going back to the old normal,” Schaffner said. “We should not be surprised that we are seeing an increase in Covid again. Covid loves that environment.”
States that had been doing well, including New York, which was wracked early on by the virus, are seeing a new surge. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said there were 868 new cases in the state on Sept. 27, an 18% increase from two weeks earlier. A higher percentage of those getting tested are now coming back positive, suggesting the amount of virus in the community is on the rise.
Cases in Kids
Similar increases are happening among the nation’s children, as more than 56 million returned to school this month. More than a quarter of a million children were infected with coronavirus from March through Sept. 19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While those hardest hit were more likely to have other conditions, about three of every four who were hospitalized, needed intensive care or died had no other health concerns, the CDC said.
The number of cases among children has increased dramatically since the start of September, when many went back to school in person at least part time.
Coronavirus cases in those 19 and younger have increased three-fold since May, according to the CDC, suggesting they may play an increasingly important role in community transmission even if their individual risk of serious illness is low.
“School studies suggest that in-person learning can be safe in communities with low SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates, but might increase transmission risk in communities where transmission is already high,” the agency said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.