Is America heading for a twindemic?

As the weather is getting colder amid the onset of winter, concerns increase over spread of both the flu and Covid-19

Some northern US states are starting to witness a Covid-19 resurgence as the weather is getting colder amid the onset of the winter season, raising concerns over a “twindemic” of the flu and coronavirus. The five states that are reporting most of the new daily Covid-19 cases per capita are Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Idaho, Xinhua news agency quoted data by The New York Times published on Monday as saying.

Alaska is logging the highest daily average of 125 cases per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the other states with the fastest rising Covid-19 caseloads are Vermont, Colorado, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota, the data revealed. The country is currently witnessing a downward trend in the pandemic situation, and the wave driven by the Delta variant is also receding. 

Though health experts do not expect another catastrophic winter wave like last year, they have warned the public not to let their guard down as a large portion of the population is still unvaccinated, and the flu season may bring complications. Americans have built up less natural immunity against influenza because so few were infected in 2020, experts say. As Covid-19 and the flu share many of the same symptoms, such as fever, cough and chills, it will be hard to determine without a test. “The weather drives people indoors into poorly ventilated spaces, and when either academic activities or social activities occur without masks in indoor spaces, that’s when transmission occurs,” Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive of Michigan said on Monday. Agencies

Curbs to be eased further in Oz capital

Coronavirus restrictions in the Australian capital will be further eased after it reached the 80 per cent vaccine milestone, authorities said on Tuesday. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) became the country’s first jurisdiction to hit 80 per cent double-dose vaccination coverage among those aged above 12, reports Xinhua news agency. 

Russia sets new record of fresh Covid deaths

Russia registered another daily record of Covid deaths on Tuesday. The task force reported 1,015 Covid deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest since the pandemic started.

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