During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Dec. 6, Deborah Birx, MD, White House coronavirus task force coordinator, made it clear that there were some state officials who were not stepping up to the task of keeping COVID-19 at bay with basic restrictions that had worked previously. “Right now, across the Sun Belt, we have governors and mayors who have cases equivalent to what they had in the summertime, yet aren’t putting in the same policies and mitigations that they put in the summer that they know changed the course of this pandemic,” she said. Birx went on to explain how officials were responsible for making sure their citizens are aware of the dangers of getting together to celebrate upcoming holidays. “Every state needs to be critically informing their state population that the gatherings that we saw in Thanksgiving will lead to a surge,” she warned. “It will happen this week and next week. And cannot go into the holiday season—Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza—with the same kind of attitude that: ‘Those gatherings don’t apply to me.’ They apply to everyone if you don’t want to lose your grandparents, your aunt,” Birx cautioned. States in the Sun Belt previously enacted safety measures during summertime peaks, such as mask mandates and business closures, that successfully brought numbers down. But even amid skyrocketing case numbers and hospitalizations, officials such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have repeatedly rebuffed advice from the federal task force and refused to issue statewide policies. In mid-November, a spokesperson for DeSantis told local Miami affiliate CBS12 News, “The governor will not lockdown and hurt families who can’t afford to shelter in place for six weeks—especially not for a virus that has a 99.8 percent survival rate.” But Birx says: “We have to really understand how contagious, how infectious this virus is. And it’s really important at this moment in time that everyone understands also how much virus is out there.” As of Dec. 9, all three of the states to report above 1 million COVID-19 cases were located in the Sun Belt: Texas, California, and Florida. Read on to see how each state in the Sun Belt region is faring, as of Dec. 9, according to data from Covid Act Now, and for more on red flags that you may be sick, check out This Strange Pain Could Be the First Sign You Have COVID, Study Says. Read the original article on Best Life. Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 69.2 Positive test rate: 17.4 percent And for more on how to stay safe this time of year, check out Dr. Fauci Says to Limit Your Holiday Celebrations to This Many People. Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 81.3 Positive test rate: 15.7 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 71.1 Positive test rate: 11.1 percent And for more on places you should be avoiding, check out Almost All COVID Transmission Is Happening in These 5 Places, Doctor Says. Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 62 Positive test rate: 7.9 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 78.4 Positive test rate: 12.4 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 43.6 Positive test rate: 10.6 percent And for more on what could make the pandemic even worse, check out Dr. Fauci Says This One Thing Could Spread COVID More Than Anything Yet. Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 46.5 Positive test rate: 13.2 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 83.7 Positive test rate: 21.1 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 51.7 Positive test rate: 11.1 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 64.9 Positive test rate: 16.9 percent And for more on what type of PPE to be careful of, check out The FDA Just Issued a Warning Against This Kind of Face Mask.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 86.9 Positive test rate: 22.4 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 71.7 Positive test rate: 15 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 48.9 Positive test rate: 11 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 76.6 Positive test rate: 20.9 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 50.1 Positive test rate: 14.3 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 47.5 Positive test rate: 14 percent Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 64.9 Positive test rate: Unknown Daily new cases per 100,000 people: 96.7 Positive test rate: 20.2 percent And for a factor that could be keeping you free of the virus, check out If You Have One of These Blood Types, You May Be Safe From COVID.
