In response to the violence that may occur before and after the inauguration of the new president, the whole country is tightening its nerves, and Washington, the top capital, is waiting for a major enemy.
At present, up to 25,000 National Guard soldiers promised by the Pentagon are gradually stationed, making Washington like a “war zone”, really scaring the citizens of the capital who have not seen such a battle for a long time.
However, they may have to worry about another thing first: Will the “war zone” become an “epidemic area”?
The bigger “super communication” is coming soon?
Since the weekend, National Guard soldiers from all 50 states of the United States and several overseas territories have successively entered the capital Washington through air-land intermodal transportation, and the furthest team even came from Guam, about 7,900 miles (12.7 thousand kilometers) away.
While the arrival of the large number of people is a good thing for the security of the capital, a new hidden worry also comes: they will not be tested for COVID-19 before entering the capital!
A National Guard spokesman said that soldiers will be tested for temperatures upon arrival in Washington, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing during their missions.
But as for whether to test soldiers for COVID-19, it is “depending on the situation”, testing is not a universal requirement.
The spokesman also admitted that if there is another incident similar to the impact on Congress on January 6, it will be difficult for soldiers to meet the epidemic prevention requirements.
In response, Major General John Harris of the Ohio National Guard expressed concern.
Harris: “I just want to remind you that the National Guard soldiers we brought were still doing other things a few days ago, and they had no idea that they would come here.
It’s really something we care about bringing so many people together in the face of the pandemic.”
Harris’ concern is not unreasonable. Air Force Captain Machona confirmed in an interview with the Military Times that as of the afternoon of the 15th local time, 43 National Guard soldiers had been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
As for how to deal with the situation, Marjona only said that “relevant measures will be taken”, and did not indicate whether measures such as isolation would be taken against their close contacts.
In fact, the latest example of super communication is just around the corner.
On the 16th local time, California Democratic Congressman Lou Correa, who has been vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19, announced that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He is also the seventh congressman to be diagnosed with infection since the impact on Congress.
And experts have warned many times that many legislators who fled the riots were living in the same room at that time, and many people did not wear masks, which may trigger the super spread of the virus.
According to the New York Times, since the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, at least 62 current congressmen have been diagnosed or suspected of contracting the novel coronavirus, more than one-tenth of the total number of congressmen, and significantly higher than the national infection rate of 6.5%.
With the previous experience, the influx of the National Guard into the capital Washington is really disturbing.
At present, most of the deployed soldiers can only be paved in dense spaces; according to the Pentagon, these soldiers can be on duty for up to 30 days.
Thinking of the terrible prospect of super-spreading, CNN’s report said carelessly that because the novel coronavirus can be widely spread through asymptomatic infected people, it is impossible to know whether any of these soldiers are carrying the virus without testing, and they rarely receive relevant reminders during deployment.
Will the mutant virus become a new threat “in five weeks”?
As of the 19th local time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States has exceeded 24 million, and the number of deaths is approaching 400,000.
And the situation that followed was not optimistic. A recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that the epidemic in the United States will continue to worsen in the coming weeks, and the number of deaths may increase by nearly 25%.
In an interview on the 17th local time, incoming new CDC director Rochelle Valensky further warned that even conservative estimates, the cumulative number of deaths in the United States by mid-February is likely to reach 500,000.
Valensky: “The cumulative number of deaths from COVID-19 is expected to reach 500,000 by mid-February, not including the impact of new symptoms on thousands of recovered patients.
Also, we haven’t seen the consequences of holiday travel and gatherings on hospitalization and death rates, and I think we’re facing a dark time.”
If another potential super-spreading incident originating from tens of thousands of soldiers is enough to worry, then the new hidden worries do not stop there.
According to the latest report, Michigan has also found the state’s first mutant COVID-19 infection. So far, at least 16 states in the United States have found this more infectious mutant virus that appeared in the United Kingdom last year.
Scott Gottlieb, the former director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), predicted in an interview recently that the mutant coronavirus will become the main virus spreading in the United States “within five weeks”.
Gottlieb: “The number of cases of mutant COVID-19 in the United States currently accounts for about 0.5% of the total in the United States, and hot spots in Southern California and Florida may approach 1%.
But then, this number may ‘double every week’. So within about five weeks, this mutant virus will become the main virus spreading in the United States.
Although the United States is advancing the COVID-19 vaccination process, the serious delay in progress and the chaos in the vaccination process have shown that it is obviously impossible to rely on vaccines to end the epidemic solely in the reality that the epidemic continues to get out of control and the White House’s response to the epidemic is still in a mess.
In the face of the current reality and the new hidden dangers, where will the United States go? Perhaps as Dr. Joni Carlton, chief medical officer at Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, said, “It’s up to each of us to slow the spread of the virus.
We continue to urge people to follow science-based epidemic prevention requirements, wear masks correctly, socially distance, avoid crowds, and wash their hands frequently until people have access to a safe and effective vaccine.”
