The United States set a new record on June 24th for the highest number of new COVID-19 cases: 45,000 Americans were diagnosed on this day, which is the highest number of new cases on a single day, in the US since the pandemic began.
Here’s Epidemiologist Mike Osterholm on Almanac, the Twin Cities PBS TV show:
“We are still at the very beginning of this pandemic,” said Dr. Mike Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the U of M. “We know that this virus is going to keep marching, infecting humans, at a speed that is substantial, until we get to 60 percent of the population,” said Osterholm appearing on Almanac, the Twin Cities PBS TV show
Osterholm is urging people to stay vigilant and be ready for what is to come.
“This is just what we are going to see for months and months, it’s going to come and it’s going to go, we have got to understand that,” said Osterholm
And while most young people infected with COVID-19 might not get very sick, they pose a serious threat others… especially older people or those with underlying health conditions like obesity… which puts people at greater risk to be hit hard by the disease.
“We’re going to have to learn how to live with that because I worry that a lot of these young people that are now infected do not realize that they are major sources of the virus for their parents, their grand-parents, older individuals, people with underlying health problems, and we are going to see another wave, in a sense, of severe illness in older people, as a result of contact with younger people,” said Osterholm
We still have a long ways to go to fight COVID-19 and Mike Osterholm has this advice:
“Go ahead and wear your mask, but the most important thing is the three key words in all of this issue of prevention: Distance, Distance, and Distance. That’s the one thing you have control over and the one thing that can save you,” said Osterholm.
Taking Stock of COVID and Looking Ahead to Reduce Risk