Rebalancing from a dramatic outbreak of coronavirus across the Upper Midwest has given cautious relief to health officials, despite concerns that infections remain rampant and that holiday gatherings could be the worst times of the disease. spread control.
SIOUX FALLS, SD – As much of the country is experiencing spiked virus levels, rebalancing from a dramatic surge of coronavirus in the Upper Midwest has given cautious relief to health officials, although they are concerned that diseases will still be rampant and holiday gatherings could re-establish the worst events of the pandemic.
States in the northern regions of the Midwest and Great Plains saw the worst rates of coronavirus disease in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, extending hospitals beyond capacity and leading to states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin report some of the nation’s highest per capita deaths in November.
But over the past two weeks, these states have seen their average daily cases fall, with a drop ranging from 20% in Iowa to as much as 66% in North Dakota, according to researchers Johns Hopkins. Since mid-November, the region as a whole has returned to levels similar to those seen in October.
“We’re in a place where we controlled the fire, but it would be very easy for it to go up again if the conditions were right,” said Ryan Demmer, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
For an area that was once a tree of the viral waves that is now plaguing much of the country, the progressive leadership in the Midwest offers hope that people can gather to take viral care while they are waiting for vaccines during what experts believe will be the last months of the pandemic.
Regulators have used the declining numbers to justify their different ways of fighting the pandemic, even rejoicing at times. In Minnesota, Gov. Democrat Tim Walz defended keeping some restrictions in place in early January, saying limits on bars and restaurants work. In nearby South Dakota, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem contradicts her argument, using the recent recession in her states to argue that mask orders do not make a difference.
But some epidemiologists believe that the virus on a personal level is perhaps the most powerful for many who have doubled their efforts to prevent infections. As the pandemic spread to communities across the Midwest, more loved ones, friends or acquaintances became ill or died.
“It’s fox hole belief – the whole thing becomes much more real when the boy next to you is shot,” said Dr Christine Petersen, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases. emerges at the University of Iowa. “Suddenly, your local hospital is full, and your sister, sister or grandmother is in hospital.”
About one in every 278 people across northern states spanning from Wisconsin to Montana required hospital care for COVID-19, according to data from the COVID Administration Project. In tense communities, these experiences hit home.
The virus outbreak was so widespread in early November that almost everyone has been exposed to someone affected by COVID-19, said Dr. James Lawler with the University Center for Health Security Global Center Nebraska.
“That seems to take things home in a way that he didn’t talk about earlier,” he said, noting that he has seen more people wearing face masks, as well as avoid indoor gatherings, parties and dinners.
Until the fall, the Upper Midwest had not seen the widespread uprisings and high mortality rates in other parts of the country in the early months of the pandemic. Many used lax methods for virus mitigation measures. Republican rulers in the region have repealed government orders for the application of mascara or other efforts to prevent infections.
Many health experts warned that the area was ripe for widespread infections, especially as the weather cooled and people gathered indoors, making it easier for the coronavirus to spread.
“As soon as the snowball started, he took everyone down,” Petersen said. “We knew this was coming. It was the ones who took the warning and doubled down who did a little better, but we knew it would be hard, no matter what. ”
Petersen credited the renewed efforts to reduce disease to a combination of factors: warnings from health officials and medical staff that hospitals were filling up; some Republican rulers issue orders to wear masks; and live experience of the pandemic. Other experts say that some pockets of humans, such as those working in meat – packing plants where there have been widespread infections, have contracted such high levels of disease that the virus has slowed down.
But across the region, many were concerned that their success in avoiding a Thanksgiving spike could be overshadowed by Christmas and New Year celebrations. Petersen was concerned that people had decided to avoid Thanksgiving, just to have a family celebration on Christmas. As a Midwesterner, she recognized that it was difficult to resist gathering with the family on vacation.
“I hope many of us don’t feel guilty in a few weeks,” she said.
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Funk was reported from Norfolk, Nebraska. Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.