The Current, Deadly U.S. Coronavirus Surge Has Peaked, Researchers Say

Enlarge this image

A patient lies on a stretcher in the hallway of the overloaded Emergency Room at Providence St. Mary Medical Center amid a surge in COVID-19 patients in Southern California in late December. Average new daily infections are now going down in California and much of the country.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Shots — Health News
CDC Warns New U.K. Coronavirus Variant Is Spreading Fast In The U.S.

Others warn that the virus could surge again for several reasons, including the sluggish vaccination campaign failing to ramp up and people relaxing the precautions they are taking.

«Often what we see is a sort of cyclical pattern where things worsen and so people stay home more. They are more vigilant about wearing masks. They skip the restaurants or the get-togethers,» Rivers says. «But as things improve people relax a little bit and incorporate some those risky behaviors again and things can again accelerate.»

Another big concern are the emergence of new variants that spread more easily.

«I think this is a really substantial threat,» says Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown School of Public Health. «The experience from the U.K., Ireland and other countries that have seen this is it can very quickly reverse all of the gains and make things dramatically worse. So I am very, very worried about this.»