America: While the phrase "Covid is over" is trending on social media, the weekly US death toll tells a different story.
Despite an increase of nearly 400 per day in July, the rate of Covid-19 deaths has remained relatively stable since May, according to a USA Today analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

"We are on a terrible plateau," Dr. Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease specialist with Pro Health Care in New York and clinical instructor of medicine at Columbia University. "It's been going on for a few months, and we're getting used to it."

More than 12,500 Americans died of COVID-19 in July.

According to epidemiologist David Dowdy of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the number of coronavirus deaths is comparable to the number of influenza deaths recorded during peak season. A severe flu season can result in more than 50,000 deaths.

This does not mean that the Covid-19 mortality rate has exceeded the flu mortality rate, he says, because the peak flu season lasts only three months. Dowde estimated that the number of deaths from Covid-19 would be nearly four times that of flu deaths during the year.

Covid-19 is "like being in flu season all year," he says, "and that's not what we do with the flu." "If we had to do this with the flu, we would have taken even more precautions than we are now."
Most Americans who died of COVID-19 were immunocompromised or over the age of 75.

The vaccination status of these patients ranged from unvaccinated to having received all of their recommended vaccines and boosters.
Griffin believes that whether patients receive treatment within the first week of diagnosis, it is likely that they will recover or die.

"I can't think of anyone in recent memory who did everything right, got the vaccine, got the proper initial treatment, and then died in the hospital," he said.

Pfizer's antiviral Paxlovid has been shown to keep high-risk Covid-19 patients out of hospital. Griffin claims it is losing favor with providers and patients as public figures report reinfection after taking antivirals.

President Joe Biden, 79, was still recovering from his rebound Covid-19 case on Wednesday. The president contracted Covid-19 two weeks ago and was quickly treated with Paxlovid, to which he responded very well. He passed the examination and was released from isolation.

However, like some PaxLovid patients, Biden experienced a rebound last weekend, with some mild symptoms remaining. In June, Biden's chief medical adviser, 81-year-old Anthony Fauci, reported a recurrence of the infection.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 92% of Americans over the age of 65 have been fully vaccinated, and about 70% have received at least one booster.

Modified COVID-19 booster shots targeting the Omicron version of the coronavirus are expected this fall, but health experts believe they will have little effect on mortality.

"The vaccines we have now are still highly effective against serious illness and death," Dowdy said. "What they can do is help reduce transmission by being more effective against infections. "

According to experts, staying up to date on recommended vaccines and receiving prompt treatment with proven therapies will protect those at high risk of severe COVID-19 and death.

"This plateau, as bad as it is, will unfortunately be less than that if we don't do a good job with boosters and improve education on how to properly manage this decline," Griffin said.

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