As the entire world is busy containing the novel coronavirus that apparently originated from Wuhan, a warning from health officials in the United States is creating panic among healthcare workers and the public. Recently, officials in the US have revealed that the number of young people getting infected with COVID-19 has increased drastically, and it has made many believe that the deadly pandemic has mutated into a different strain.
Increased Testing or Mutation?
This drastic shift in demographics is recorded in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. As panic regarding coronavirus infection among young adults looms up, some officials have revealed that this drastic climb in infection rate is attributed to the increase in the number of tests done. However, skeptics claim that the sudden elevation in the chart is due to the ineffective social distancing measures adopted by Americans.
Florida Governor DeSantis, on Saturday, revealed that coronavirus positive cases are shifting in a radical direction towards people in 20s and 30s. Even though this younger group of patients does not need immediate clinical care, many experts believe that these asymptomatic people may become silent carriers who will infect old people.
Adding up the heat to these worries, Dr. Philip Keiser, an expert working with the local health department in Texas, revealed that authorities have monitored less than 7 percent of social distancing in Galveston County.
"Our average age last week of people that were positive was age 30, the average age of people getting tested was 47. We have data from some of the cell phone companies that show in Galveston County less than 7% of the people are social distancing," Keiser told CNN affiliate KPRC.
Difficulty in Finding an Overall Cure
A few weeks back, a study carried out by researchers at the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou had suggested that coronavirus has mutated to more than 30 different strains. The study report literally came as a shocker, and it made many health experts understand that they have underestimated the mutation capability of COVID-19.
As different strains of coronavirus have started affecting people in different areas, medical experts believe that there could be difficulties in finding an overall cure for the pandemic in the near future.
