CDC head chokes up as she reveals latest rise in Covid deaths and cases: ‘Right now I am scared’

‘Please hold on a little while longer,’ Dr Rochelle Walensky pleads with the public

Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, got choked up during a White House Covid-19 press briefing when discussing the current rise in cases, hospitalisations, and deaths in the United States due to the pandemic.

“I’m going to pause here. I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” she said while holding back tears during the briefing. “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope. But right now I am scared.”

Coronavirus infections, which have been on the rise over the last week, were continuing to increase. The country was now averaging just under 60,000 new cases per day, which was 10.6 per cent higher from the last seven-day average.

Hospitalisations were also on the rise with the country averaging about 4,800 new patients per day, a 4.2 per cent increase over the seven-day average.

The country has witnessed these increased trends in both hospitalisations and cases for the last week. But it was the increase in deaths that was concerning Dr Walensky and other health experts.

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Deaths, which were a lagging indicator, increased 2.6 per cent over the last seven days to nearly 1,000 new deaths due to Covid-19 per day.

“Please hold on a little while longer,” Dr Walensky said. “I so badly want to be done, I know you all so badly want to be done. I am asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends.”

The warning comes as countries in Europe, which have typically been a few weeks ahead of the US during past surges, were experiencing a significant increase in cases, hospitalisations, and deaths – causing countries like Germany and France to implement lockdown measures again.

Germany has extended its lockdown measures until 18 April, as Chancellor Angela Merkel implored residents to “break this third wave” when speaking about the pandemic. France has also placed more than a dozen regions, including Paris, on a partial lockdown due to the rise in infections.

Italy was also considering lockdown measures amid the latest surge.

“Those countries have experienced a consistent and worrying spike of cases,” Dr Walensky said about Europe.

“When we have seen that uptick in cases, what we have seen before is things tend to surge, and surge big ... We know that travel is up ... I just worry that we will see the surges over the summer and over the winter again,” Dr Walensky said.

The United States hit its peak of the pandemic in January by averaging about 315,000 infections, 17,000 new hospitalisations, and more than 3,000 new deaths per day.

Since mid-January, the numbers have steadily declined as more and more people received a coronavirus vaccine. But the introduction of new variants, states rolling back coronavirus restrictions, and Americans traveling more have likely led to an increase in infections.

“I’m calling on every single one of you to sound the alarm ... we do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge,” Dr Walensky said.

The United States has recorded more than 30.2 million coronavirus cases and over 549,000 people have died from the novel virus since the start of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.