New wave of COVID? Face masks again required in US hospitals due to spike in infections – El Financiero

Hospitals at least five belonging 50 states USA returned to require the use of face masks due to rising cases of COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory illnesses.

California, Illinois, Maryland, NY And Massachusetts are among the states where health care providers have made required use of masks by both patients and medical staff.

This Thursday hospital group Johns Hopkinsone of the largest in Maryland, sent an email to its patients informing them that mask use would again be mandatory.

In any case, the rise in cases in the US is difficult to measure because many states have stopped collecting data and the only federal agency still releasing data on the impact of the virus is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

These CDC data show that four years after the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged in the United States, hundreds of people continue to die every week in the country.

1500 deaths per week

In particular, according to the CDC, in the week of December 9, 2023, the last according to complete data, 1614 deaths on COVID-19. On average over the past few weeks, with complete data available, there has been 1488 deaths per week.

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While these COVID-19 death numbers remain high, they are lower than the record 25,974 deaths reported for the week ending January 9, 2021.

On the other side, influenza was the leading cause of 163 deaths in the week ending December 9, 2023.According to the CDC.

Since the virus reached the United States, more than 1.1 million people have died from Covid-19 in the country.

This figure is proportionately higher than other developed countries, according to the CDC.