HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -- For the first time in more than three months, the country is starting to see a decline in coronavirus-related hospital admissions and daily cases.
This is very good news, but doctors stress that we can't let our guard down just yet, especially in Pennsylvania where cases are still climbing.
Infectious disease doctors are still urging people to get vaccinated.
The latest CDC data shows a decline of COVID cases in the U.S. as a whole and it's projected to continue its plunge. But Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning we're not out of the woods yet.
"We certainly are turning the corner on this particular surge, but we have experienced over now close to 20 months of surges that go up and then come down and the go back up again," Fauci said.
A look at Pennsylvania's data doesn't show a decline yet, though projections show a plateau in the next few weeks.
"One of the most dangerous parts of mountain climbing isn't going up there. It's the descent," said Nathan Harig, assistant chief of Cumberland Goodwill EMS. "A lot of people get hurt and injured because they let their guard down. They try to rush through things. So it's very important that we continue doing all that we can to be protected from COVID and that means getting vaccinated."
Harig says diversion requests from hospitals have gone down, especially with a new one open in Cumberland County, but "There's still stress on hospitals," he said. "They're releasing their numbers regularly and their numbers show that it is an unvaccinated population that takes up a lot of these bed space and intensive care resources."
Harig says being on the front lines proves the vaccines work.
"The people that we've encountered in EMS, they tend to be diagnosed with COVID a week or two weeks prior and it progresses and it continues to get worse and that's an unvaccinated population," Harig said.
"Vaccination is our best defense against COVID-19. We have the scientific tools needed to put an end to this pandemic," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
There are approximately 70 million Americans who are not vaccinated.
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