COVID-19 infections are waning slightly in the rural U.S., but the number of deaths there is still climbing.
an online news organization focused on rural issues. Comparing the first few weeks of this month, it analyzed COVID-19 data and found infections in rural counties have gone down slightly. However, it found that the number of deaths climbed by more than 20% between those first and second weeks of August.
Thomas Jaenisch is an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Colorado. He says that difference is caused by a lag time between infection and potential death.
鈥淥nce somebody gets sick and might need to go to hospital, it can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks until that person dies,鈥� he said.
However, he says don鈥檛 let the lower infections fool you either, because those numbers can be delayed as well 鈥� symptoms can take a while to show up. Beyond that, he stresses that death isn鈥檛 the only factor in how serious COVID-19 is. Emerging science shows that other vital organs face long-term consequences.
鈥淚t affects the brain, the kidney, the heart,鈥� he said. 鈥淥f course, there are the lungs, and if the lungs have a permanent scarring tissue, that damages the air exchange and is not going to go back to normal after the infection.鈥�
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