Assumptions that the United States would go back to a pre-pandemic summer scenario slowly fade away as the harsh reality of an extended COVID-19 battle saw a spike in infections in all 50 states.
However, officials are looking into the situation and trying to come up with solutions.
Dr Craig Spencer, the director of global health in emergency medicine from the Columbia University Medical Center, said that unvaccinated people in some areas of the country are at an all-time high risk of contracting the deadly virus.
“If you are unvaccinated, the risk is incredibly high — and maybe in some areas higher than it’s ever been because there are not mask mandates, people are enjoying this wonderful return of summer and are a little more carefree and lackadaisical and making it more possible that you could be exposed,” he said in an interview with CNN last Friday.
The number of air traveling individuals reached a pandemic-era record on Friday. A total of 2,199,815 people have been screened in US airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration, which also attached the “#MaskUp” slogan to the data:
JUST IN: @TSA screened 2,199,815 people at airport security checkpoints yesterday, Friday, July 16. It was the busiest day at checkpoints since the start of the pandemic. This is why you need to get to the airport early. #MaskUp
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) July 17, 2021
As the virus is present in high quantities in particular areas, vaccinated people should keep practising the same safety measures they already have been practising during the global pandemic.
