Is USA on verge of second wave of COVID-19? Spread Awareness

Is the COVID-19 over? Are we safe? Is it a good time to cater to gatherings and have reunions? The people may say yes, but the stats say No! The USA is one of the most affected countries during the current pandemic. There are over 6 million people infected, and almost two hundred thousand are dead. With almost 20,000 new cases reported daily, the danger is far from over. The COVID-19 pandemic, which started in early 2020, has put immense pressure on the healthcare system in the country. The system had been on the verge of collapsing, and as we neared the end of the year, the situation didn’t seem to get better. The country saw the worst spike in June and July, with almost 41% of cases reported. This made the largest economy in the world come to a sudden halt. The lockdown started in the country in March to limit the spread of the virus. People were bound to stay at home, and the work and education system was shifted to home. This step was taken to ‘flatten the curve’ in other words, to limit the spread of the virus.

However, the cases went down at the end of July, and people decided to resend their lives. The country’s government still contemplates opening one of the world’s largest economies. The people, on the contrary, are more relaxed than ever, enough for the second wave of COVID-19 to begin. The lockdown was put on ease as a few states started reopening again. Many states aren’t successful in implementing safety measures. The cases in different states across the country are increasing once again. California, Florida, and Texas are one of those states that still have over 3000 cases reported each day. Wherever the comprehensive outlook may seem better, the threat is still present.

Now that people are getting tired of wearing masks and following safety protocols, also rejecting the ‘new normal,’ we can only expect the hike! The political parties are starting to work on election campaigns. Colleges aim to start their classes. All this might lead to another but a stronger and more fatal wave that will create immense damage. The governing bodies may have implied the following precautionary measures, but that’s hardly the case. We see urban areas have careful people; the story in rural areas is the opposite. Many people have traveled to their hometowns during vacation, and the cases increased in the rural areas. Governors of different states are now deciding on different policies for better damage control!

States with leading cases

While the numbers of cases fluctuate across the country, states like California, Texas, and Florida are still topping the chart! There has been an increase of almost 15% in the positivity test in Iowa. This has forced the government to shut down pubs and increase tests for college students. It even resulted in the decision to host a college football game without an audience of 25,000. South Dakota is now also reporting a higher number of cases. This hike resulted from the motorcycle rally that reportedly had an audience of 400,000.

Apart from these states, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana, and Kansas also report a surge! The current scenario’s biggest downfall is that the cases are being reported in rural areas. With a lack of medical facilities, these areas are more prone to hazardous results.

College Opening

Another striking issue that has caused the hike in the cases is the college reopening. Many states rescheduled the on-campus classes, and the cases started increasing. Students traveling from affected states had higher chances of spreading the virus. The management and government are now directing the infected students to stay on campus. The government has decided that sending infected students back home will only surge the cases! The above notion has forced the authorities to shift the classes back to online portals. As the cases keep increasing in several states, the safe option is to apply social distancing.