Masks until 2022 and shocking mortality: Fauci's forecast for the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

The number of deaths from coronavirus in the United States approached the mark of 500 thousand people. This is more than the country's combat losses in three wars, writes RBC.

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498,8 thousand people became victims of coronavirus in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This is more than the country's combat losses in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War, reported The New York Times.

According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, 53,4 thousand Americans were killed during the First World War, 291,5 thousand during World War II, and 47,4 thousand during the Vietnam War. However, the document refers specifically to those who died on the battlefield.

The total US casualties in the three wars (including missing persons and deaths from injuries and diseases caused by them) exceed the number of victims of COVID-19. According to the Robert Schumann Institute, the country's combat losses in the First World War amounted to more than 116 thousand people. Combat losses in World War II are estimated at 407 thousand people. The casualties in the Vietnam War are still being revised as veterans continue to die decades later as a result of complications from their injuries.

The top three countries that recorded the largest number of deaths from coronavirus also included Brazil (246,5 thousand people) and Mexico (179,7 thousand). In Russia, according to the operational headquarters, COVID-19 became the main cause of death in 83,2 thousand people. In total, from April to December 2020, 162,2 thousand deaths associated with coronavirus were registered in the country, including cases when it influenced the development of fatal complications of another disease. Based on Rosstat statistics, Russia ranks fourth in the number of deaths associated with COVID-19.

The United States also recorded the most cases of cases and deaths from the coronavirus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 28,1 million cases of COVID-19 have been identified in them, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The maximum daily increase in the country was recorded on January 2 - then it reached almost 300 thousand people. By February 19, the figure dropped to 106,3 thousand people.

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Chief US infectious disease specialist: masks may be in 2022

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday, February 21, predicted that by the end of this year, the US will be "close to normal", but perhaps in 2022 we will still wear masks. Huffington Post.

“Obviously, I think the situation will be more normal compared to the terrible burden that we've all endured over the last year,” Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said in an interview with CNN. “It may or may not be exactly the same as it was in November 2019, but it will be much better than it is now.”

People may still need to wear masks next year, he said, until the daily number of cases is reduced and the vast majority of people are vaccinated.

Dr. Fauci says that it's "possible" that Americans will be wearing masks in 2022.

"When it goes way down and the overwhelming majority of the people in the population are vaccinated, then I would feel comfortable in saying, you know, 'We need to pull back on the masks'" #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/8Upirj9VGb

- State of the Union (@CNNSotu) February 21, 2021

“Then I guess it can be said that for the most part we don’t have to wear masks,” he said. “But if the infection rate is the same as it was months ago—for example, 20 cases a day—that is still a very high level.”

The last time the U.S. as a whole recorded 20 daily cases was March 000, the same month the World Health Organization first declared COVID-2020 a pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The average daily rate of new coronavirus cases has dropped significantly from a peak of about 315 in January. At last count, according to the CDC, there were more than 000 cases reported every day in the United States on average in seven days.

Fauci emphasized that he doesn't want to make any specific predictions because there are many variables that could change the situation, including different strains of the virus (the CDC previously said the U.S. already has variants from the U.K., Brazil and South Africa). There have also been vaccination setbacks, with severe winter weather in Texas and surrounding areas disrupting vaccine distribution — although Fauci said he expects a return to normalcy early next week.

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“The delivery of 6 million doses was delayed. We have 2 million, and we project that by midweek we will catch up,” he said in a separate interview with NBC on February 21.

When asked what to do for people who have received only one of two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, Fauci said there are too many risks for those who have never been infected with the virus and do not have antibodies to it. He believes that the effectiveness of a single dose for those who have already had COVID-19 still needs to be studied.

“The data looks really impressive: If you get infected and then get a single dose, the boost you get from that single dose is really huge,” he said. “It's something that might be worth looking into, but we want to look at the data very carefully first.”

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