Pandemic threatens to veer out of control in U.S.
This is part of our Coronavirus Update series in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring. Harvard public health experts said the nation’s COVID-19 epidemic is getting “quite out of hand” and that, with cases rising rapidly in the hardest-hit states and a two-week lag between infection and hospitalization, the situation appears set to worsen quickly. “I have this awful feeling of déjà vu, like it’s March all over again,” said William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Hanage, who spoke with reporters during a conference call Thursday morning, said that hospitals are nearing capacity in Arizona and Houston and are likely to be stressed elsewhere soon. And, in contrast to the nation’s early spike in COVID-19 cases that were concentrated in a few states, the current...