GlobalHealth Threats

CDC is reporting at least 43 million cases and 689,534 fatalities. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Marshall Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands have recorded cases.

Vaccination campaigns are underway. For individual state COVID-19 updates see CDC COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States and click on the state.

More information: US CDC COVID-19 Updates; US CDC COVIDView (weekly surveillance summary of COVID-19 activity); US CDC State & Territorial Health Department Websites, US CDC Vaccine Tracker, US CDC COVID cases caused by variants.

29 September: Hospitalisations and new cases continue to decline since the start of the month, with a seven day average of 110,232 cases per day in the week to 27 September. Around 2,000 new deaths are being reported each day. The total number of confirmed cases is over 43 million, and deaths are approaching 690,000. The CDC still deems that there is a high level of community transmission occurring.

While the national trend is declining, some pockets are witnessing resurgences. Cases are spiking in Alaska, with reports of strain on the healthcare system. Other Upper Midwest and New England states with increasing trends include Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The latest American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report states that over 206,800 paediatric cases were reported in the week to 23 September, a decline on the week prior. This however makes up a greater percentage of all cases confirmed in the week, at over 26% of all cases. Hospitalisation rates of children under 11 years with COVID-19 have been rising as many schools have resumed in class learning.

21 September: The number of fatalities from the COVID-19 outbreak has now surpassed that of the US deaths from the Spanish flu in 1918-19, when around 675,000 people died.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report that 225,978 cases in kids were reported in the week to 16 September. A total of over 5.5 million child cases have been confirmed, accounting for 15.7% of the total cases in the country. Cases in children have been rising exponentially for the past four weeks.

20 September: Cases continue to surge in Alaska and West Virginia. The seven day moving average continues to decline, with 118,878 new cases each day in the week to 19 September (compared to 138,246 in the week to 12 September). Deaths have been stable throughout September, with an average of 1,353 deaths per day in the week to 19 September. A total of 42,031,103 cases and 672,738 cases have been confirmed to date.

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has found that life expectancy in the United States has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A cumulative total of over 9 million years of life lost (YLLs) compares to around 15 million YLLs for cancer and 14.7 million YLLs for cardiovascular disease. The largest effect was on the 25-64 years age group and Black and Hispanic people were disproportionately affected.

During the White House press briefing on 20 September, from early November foreign adults wishing to travel to the United States will need to be fully vaccinated to enter. Full details are awaited.

13 September: New cases and hospitalisations have started to plateau or decline. Outbreaks in the South have started to ease, including in Mississippi and Tennessee. Cases are rising in parts of the Midwest and Northeast including Ohio, Maine and North Dakota.

Nationally deaths continue to rise with around 1,500 each day.

CDC report “The current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (136,558) decreased 12.7% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (156,341). ”

10 September: The president has announced six new measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. These includes mandatory vaccination for everyone who works at a healthcare facility, educators in the Head Start program, and all federal employees or contractors. In addition, businesses with over 100 employees are required to ensure all employees are fully vaccinated or show a weekly negative COVID-19 tests. Businesses will need to give their staff paid time off to get vaccinated. These mandates cover around 100 million Americans.

Further parts of the plan to tackle COVID-19 include booster shots, keeping children safe in schools, increasing testing and masking, economic recovery and medical care for those infected.

8 September: A report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has found that COVID-19 infections among children have been increasing exponentially in August and the start of September. More than 251,000 paediatric cases were reported in the week to 2 September, taking the total infections among kids to over 5 million since the start of the pandemic. This represents 28.6% of the cases confirmed in the week to 2 September, and 15.1% of all cases in the US. Media reports of large outbreaks among school children in Texas and Florida recently.

The AAP do conclude “it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is uncommon among children.”

7 September: Cases are declining in parts of the South including Florida. In the Northwest, new cases are plateauing in Washington and Oregon but have increased in Wyoming. Cases are mounting in parts of the Midwest, Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Maine, South Dakota and Ohio have had significant spikes in infections. So to have South Dakota where they are recently experiencing one of the country’s fastest growing outbreaks.

Hospitalisations in South Carolina are at similar levels to last winter and over 15,000 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised in Florida, one of the the highest rates in the country.

Although below the peak of last winter, daily deaths are more than four times greater than that recorded at the beginning of August.

CDC report “The current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (153,246) increased 4.9% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (146,087).”

2 September: The increasing trend in new cases continues, with an average of 160,000 cases per day in the last week, the highest it has been since late January. The CDC predicts that transmission will remain at these high levels throughout September. There are media reports that oxygen supplies in hospitals in the Southeast and Hawaii are running low.

The CDC Director has warned against travelling over the Labor Day long weekend for unvaccinated people.

See August COVID-19 updates here.