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Coronavirus Watch: Another bad COVID-19 winter?

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

COVID-19 rates are finally falling again after a wave nearly as bad as the one last winter.

But experts warn that if we start acting as if COVID-19 is over, we won't be through the worst of the pandemic.

"A lot of it depends on human behavior, and human behavior in this pandemic hasn’t served us very well," CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a recent call with reporters. "We are battling with ourselves, not with the common foe." Read more from Paste BN's Karen Weintraub here.

It's Monday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know.

  • Pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced Monday they have asked the FDA for emergency authorization for molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19. The orally ingested antiviral pill is used to treat mild to moderate adult cases that are at risk of worsening to severe COVID-19 or hospitalization.
  • Infection rates fell about 12% last week compared with the week before, and hospitalizations dropped 14%, Walensky said.
  • The 125th Boston Marathon was underway in and around Boston on Monday. This year's race is a bit smaller, more subdued and six months late because of COVID-19. The Chicago Marathon happened Sunday after being canceled last year.
  • New York state is on the front lines of a national legal battle over the use of an anti-parasitic drug, ivermectin, to treat COVID-19 patients. At least 14 lawsuits have sought to force hospitals to administer the drug to severely ill patients.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 44.3 million COVID-19 cases and 713,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 237.9 million cases and more than 4.8 million deaths. About 65% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 56% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 78% have received at least one shot, and about 68% are fully vaccinated.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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