U.S. could see 200,000 COVID-19 cases a day within the next six weeks:

by 8DonCo Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:04 am

U.S. could see 200,000 COVID-19 cases a day within the next six weeks: former CDC director

"We're heading into a rough time. It's likely, if our trajectory is similar to that in the United Kingdom, that we could see as many as 200,000 cases a day," Dr. Tom Frieden said, adding the U.S. likely won't see the "horrific death tolls" of earlier in the pandemic thanks to the number of vulnerable people who are vaccinated.

The last time there were more than 200,000 new U.S. cases in one day was in January, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The Delta variant is believed to be more transmissible than other strains -- so much so, Frieden said, that it is essentially finding people who are unvaccinated.

And much of the country remains unvaccinated, despite incentive programs and urging from health experts. Only 49.1% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Daily vaccination rates are slowing, with only about two thirds of the eligible population having received at least one dose, the CDC said.