In the US, 11 out of 100 people under the age of 25, 17 per cent of those in the 25 to 45 age group and 21 per cent of those between 45 and 65 years who presented with symptoms have tested positive for coronavirus, according to age-wise testing data available for the first time from the White House on a day when America”s death toll climbed past the 16,500 mark with total confirmed cases more than 462,000.
On the same day, New York State suffered the deadliest blow, posting a record-breaking increase in coronavirus deaths for a third consecutive day even as hospitalisations and intubations slowed, suggesting the curve is finally flattening. The net 200-patient increase in hospitalisations is the lowest since the nightmare began.
White House data is also showing that US men are testing positive at a much higher rate than women. Data on those under 25 years were drawn from a universe of 200,000 tests while more than half a million people in the 25-45 years age group and in the 45-65 age group have been tested, according to Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the White House response to the pandemic. Among 200,000 people in the 65-85 age group, Birx reported 22 percent positive tests and a slightly higher 24 per cent positivity level among 30,000 people above 85 years who were tested.
Despite the rising tide of horrible news, the White House task force remains focused on the upside of mitigation efforts which are showing up as flatter curves in outbreaks outside the New York and New Jersey metro areas. Birx said the curves in Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Denver “are much lower than New York and New Jersey and this gives us hope”. Predictive models from the Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington which earlier projected a nationwide death toll of 100,000-200,000 have now revised downwards to a little over 60,000 deaths by August first week of this year. These models assume “full social distancing” in place.
Nikhila Natarajan
