On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the percentage of deaths in the United States has dipped low enough so that the nation is at the epidemic threshold, which means if the percentage drops any lower, the CDC will no longer call the coronavirus an epidemic.
The CDC wrote that the percentage of deaths had declined for 10 weeks in a row, noting: “Based on death certificate data, the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia, influenza or COVID-19 (PIC) decreased from 9.0% during week 25 to 5.9% during week 26, representing the tenth week of a declining percentage of deaths due to PIC. The percentage is currently at the epidemic threshold but will likely change as more death certificates are processed, particularly for recent weeks.”
The CDC is still unsure whether the 10-week declining percentage of deaths will see a reverse, adding, “Nationally, levels of influenza-like illness (ILI) and COVID-19-like illness (CLI) activity remain lower than peaks seen in March and April but are increasing in most regions. The percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also increased from last week. Mortality attributed to COVID-19 decreased compared to last week and is currently at the epidemic threshold but will likely increase as additional death certificates are processed.”
“That threshold death rate for COVID-19 and other diseases such as influenza and pneumonia fluctuates, ranging typically from 5 to 7 percent at the height of flu season,” The Federalist noted.
Near the end of June, CDC Director Robert Redfield posited that the number of people in the United States who had been infected was likely 10 times higher than the 2.4 million confirmed cases, meaning at least 24 million people had been infected. Redfield surmised that between 5 to 8 percent of Americans had been infected, adding,
“Young people, many newly mobile after months of lockdowns, have been getting tested more often in recent weeks and driving the surge in cases in the South and West … in the past, I just don’t think we diagnosed these infections.”
The CDC wrote that the percentage of deaths had declined for 10 weeks in a row, noting: “Based on death certificate data, the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia, influenza or COVID-19 (PIC) decreased from 9.0% during week 25 to 5.9% during week 26, representing the tenth week of a declining percentage of deaths due to PIC. The percentage is currently at the epidemic threshold but will likely change as more death certificates are processed, particularly for recent weeks.”
The CDC is still unsure whether the 10-week declining percentage of deaths will see a reverse, adding, “Nationally, levels of influenza-like illness (ILI) and COVID-19-like illness (CLI) activity remain lower than peaks seen in March and April but are increasing in most regions. The percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also increased from last week. Mortality attributed to COVID-19 decreased compared to last week and is currently at the epidemic threshold but will likely increase as additional death certificates are processed.”
“That threshold death rate for COVID-19 and other diseases such as influenza and pneumonia fluctuates, ranging typically from 5 to 7 percent at the height of flu season,” The Federalist noted.
Near the end of June, CDC Director Robert Redfield posited that the number of people in the United States who had been infected was likely 10 times higher than the 2.4 million confirmed cases, meaning at least 24 million people had been infected. Redfield surmised that between 5 to 8 percent of Americans had been infected, adding,
“Young people, many newly mobile after months of lockdowns, have been getting tested more often in recent weeks and driving the surge in cases in the South and West … in the past, I just don’t think we diagnosed these infections.”
