After several weeks at a plateau, Covid-19 cases in the United States are rising again, the clearest warning sign yet that the country could face another "avoidable" surge, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
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The uptick comes at a critical time, when Americans are exhausted and desperate for a return to normalcy, but also perhaps better equipped than at any other point in the pandemic to turn the tide, thanks to increased vaccine supply.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a media briefing that the most recent seven-day average of Covid-19 cases was about 57,000 cases per day, an increase of 7 percent from the previous week.
"We know from prior surges that if we don't control things now, there is a real potential for the epidemic curve to soar again," she said, adding that she remains "deeply concerned" about the trends.
The immediate challenge for Walensky and other public health officials is to convince Americans weary of pandemic protocols to hold on just a little longer with masks and physical distancing as vaccinations are administered at an average clip of 2.5 million per day. Still, just 14 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
But are Americans, or their elected leaders, listening?
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