Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Aug 14, 2024 2:15:19 GMT
Harris, Trump Mum on Present-Day COVID-19 Situation Amid Summer Surge - Published Aug 13, 2024
The U.S. is in the middle of a summer wave of COVID-19 – though you wouldn’t know it from listening to the candidates running for president.
Former President Donald Trump has brought up COVID on the campaign trail, but his comments have mostly been related to the past.
“We got over that bad period where it was – everybody was dying, and it was just not a good period,” Trump told Elon Musk during a talk broadcasted on social platform X Monday evening. “Interestingly, you know, during his administration, many more people died during his administration of COVID than during my administration, and we really got the brunt of it,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden.
Trump’s only recent acknowledgement of present-day COVID was an unfounded accusation that Biden faked his recent infection.
“Does anybody really believe that Crooked Joe had Covid? No, he wanted to get out ever since June 27th, the night of The Debate, where he was completely obliterated,” Trump posted on Truth Social in late July.
Biden, for his part, made light of his diagnosis with a dig at Trump and Musk.
“I’m sick,” Biden posted on X in July, quickly following up with another message: “Of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, though she has only been running for president for less than a month, hasn’t made COVID – past or present – a significant part of her platform.
Her pick for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, however, has notably brought up Trump’s record on the pandemic in his very short time on the ticket.
“He froze in the face of the COVID crisis,” Walz said during a campaign event in Philadelphia last week.
But all these political digs are looking in the rearview window while the U.S. is in the middle of a coronavirus surge.
“Most areas of the country are experiencing consistent increases in COVID-19 activity, with substantial increases in the southern United States,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent post.
Of course, the coronavirus has become less of a concern as variants became less severe and the U.S. gained access to vaccines and treatments.
Still, the latest month of fully available weekly coronavirus death data put the total four-week toll at more than 1,600 deaths. Test positivity, which is a measure of how many COVID tests are coming back positive, as well as emergency department visits and COVID-19-associated hospitalizations are “elevated,” according to the CDC. The agency warns the trend is particularly true among adults aged 65 and older.
“Surges like this are known to occur throughout the year, including during the summer months,” the agency said.
The surge doesn’t appear to have peaked yet, and new COVID variants are spreading. Two strains – KP.3.1.1 and KP.3 – were responsible for nearly half of new coronavirus infections in recent weeks, according to CDC estimates. The strains, which are both descendents of the JN.1 variant that was dominant at the beginning of this year, don’t appear to be more severe than previous ones so far. Experts expect vaccines to remain effective against the circulating variants.
The U.S. is in the middle of a summer wave of COVID-19 – though you wouldn’t know it from listening to the candidates running for president.
Former President Donald Trump has brought up COVID on the campaign trail, but his comments have mostly been related to the past.
“We got over that bad period where it was – everybody was dying, and it was just not a good period,” Trump told Elon Musk during a talk broadcasted on social platform X Monday evening. “Interestingly, you know, during his administration, many more people died during his administration of COVID than during my administration, and we really got the brunt of it,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden.
Trump’s only recent acknowledgement of present-day COVID was an unfounded accusation that Biden faked his recent infection.
“Does anybody really believe that Crooked Joe had Covid? No, he wanted to get out ever since June 27th, the night of The Debate, where he was completely obliterated,” Trump posted on Truth Social in late July.
Biden, for his part, made light of his diagnosis with a dig at Trump and Musk.
“I’m sick,” Biden posted on X in July, quickly following up with another message: “Of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, though she has only been running for president for less than a month, hasn’t made COVID – past or present – a significant part of her platform.
Her pick for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, however, has notably brought up Trump’s record on the pandemic in his very short time on the ticket.
“He froze in the face of the COVID crisis,” Walz said during a campaign event in Philadelphia last week.
But all these political digs are looking in the rearview window while the U.S. is in the middle of a coronavirus surge.
“Most areas of the country are experiencing consistent increases in COVID-19 activity, with substantial increases in the southern United States,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent post.
Of course, the coronavirus has become less of a concern as variants became less severe and the U.S. gained access to vaccines and treatments.
Still, the latest month of fully available weekly coronavirus death data put the total four-week toll at more than 1,600 deaths. Test positivity, which is a measure of how many COVID tests are coming back positive, as well as emergency department visits and COVID-19-associated hospitalizations are “elevated,” according to the CDC. The agency warns the trend is particularly true among adults aged 65 and older.
“Surges like this are known to occur throughout the year, including during the summer months,” the agency said.
The surge doesn’t appear to have peaked yet, and new COVID variants are spreading. Two strains – KP.3.1.1 and KP.3 – were responsible for nearly half of new coronavirus infections in recent weeks, according to CDC estimates. The strains, which are both descendents of the JN.1 variant that was dominant at the beginning of this year, don’t appear to be more severe than previous ones so far. Experts expect vaccines to remain effective against the circulating variants.