CDC Predicts That The Next 20 Days May See More Than 19,000 Americans Die From Coronavirus

To date, more than 4.6 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus and more than 154,000 have succumbed to the disease, as per data shared by Johns Hopkins University. And yet the population, especially youngsters, are flouting the social distancing measures and holding social gatherings, as a result of which the death toll is predicted to reach 173,000 by August 22, as per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Our levels are still far too high," said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Lifespan Health System and associate professor at Brown University.

"We need those masks. We need those large social gatherings, honestly, shut down for the time being, until our country can come up with a comprehensive national strategy to get this virus under control,” she added.

The White House coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, has also warned that the pandemic is far from over in the U.S., which is all set to enter n a new phase of the pandemic.

"What we are seeing today is different from March and April," said Birx. "It is extraordinarily widespread."

The coronavirus pandemic has shifted its focus from large urban communities to more and more rural communities where it is aggressively spreading.

"The epidemic is moving into every community in America," said Dr. Carlos del Rio, the executive associate dean at Emory University's School of Medicine. "And that's why we all need to be wearing a mask."

The test positivity rate- an indication of quickly and widely the virus is spreading- has also jumped, with more than 34 states exhibiting higher-than-recommended rates.

"There are two things that are going on," said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. "One is the underlying level of infection is rising, which is obviously the thing we are most concerned about. But in about 18 to 20 states, the number of tests that are being done is actually falling. And it's falling because our testing system is under such strain that we just can't even deliver the tests today that we were doing two weeks ago in about 18 to 20 states. That's very concerning because when cases are rising, and your number of tests are falling, that's a recipe for disaster."