Causes of the increase in COVID cases

When the pandemic started, scientists were wondering and even predicting that there would be waves of cases since viruses mutate and tend to behave that way. The pattern for more than a year had been a constant increase in cases until May 2021, when most of the population started to get vaccinated. Nonetheless, the rise of new variants, along with the carelessness of people who stopped following health measures, started to become causes of the increase in COVID cases.

What causes the increase in coronavirus cases?

Human behavior

This is the major factor that affects the pattern of infection among people. Even with the appearance of new variants, if people would have kept following public health measures, as they were supposed to, the spike of cases would not have been so high.

The official information has always been that getting vaccinated is the best choice to protect you from severe illness and death, but this does not mean that the vaccine makes you 100% immune. Remember, the vaccines with the highest effectiveness percentage reach 95-97%; they are not making you 100% immune, you can still contract the virus and you can still spread it.

In addition to that, many states and cities such as Florida and Chicago stopped COVID-related public health measures too early and allowed crowded events, which contributed to increase the number of active cases.
It is essential that we keep following health measures. Keep washing your hands, respecting social distance, avoiding crowded spaces, and wearing a mask, and get both doses of the vaccine as soon as possible.

New variants

As we mentioned already, viruses are in constant mutation, and variants were expected. Currently there are four main variants of concern, which are being called alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average of new cases in the last week of July was around 84,000 per day. This means that there are almost 30,000 more active cases than two weeks before that. Hospitalizations rose up to more than 35,000, this means 8,000 higher than the week before. (2021)

The effectiveness of the vaccines decreases for almost every current variant. It does provide a certain percentage of protection, but it is essential for us to take care of ourselves and our community with the effort we have all had since the pandemic started.

According to National Geographic and Healthline, more than 82% of the new cases in the U.S. are caused by the Delta variant, and around 99% of the new deaths are being caused by that same variant.
There are thousands of people in hospitals asking if they can get the vaccine now, and doctors are having a hard time telling them that it is too late. We cannot stress the importance of the vaccine enough. Get checked, get vaccinated, take care of your health.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky defined the new stage of the pandemic for CNBC as “the pandemic of the unvaccinated,” since there are outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage.

At Formé Medical Center, we are contributing so it is not too late for anyone else. We are offering all services related to COVID. At our facilities, you can get tested, ask any doubts you have about COVID or the vaccine, and get vaccinated during our immunization campaigns.

You can contribute to end this pandemic at the time that you take care of yourself and your family. If you want to schedule an appointment or request information regarding our immunization campaigns, contact us at 914 723 4900.