Dr. Bob Wachter was an expert who diligently practiced what he preached. For three years, the prominent University of California, San Francisco doctor advocated mask-wearing and vaccination for those, like him, who wanted to avoid the coronavirus, as well as the mysterious, long-lasting symptoms known as long COVID.
When Wachter’s wife contracted coronavirus last year they were on a trip to Palm Springs, California, together, he still managed not to get sick, even after sitting next to each other in the car during the nine-hour journey home.
If Leana Wen can be hospitalized for “pneumonia” in mid-summer, and if Bob Wachter, members of the Israeli delegation, the governor of North Carolina and those incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay still contract Covid, you can Also. Please wear an N95 or better. https://t.co/4l1RyH4JTz
-Laura Miers (@LauraMiers) July 21, 2023
But Wachter’s luck ran out earlier this month, when he finally contracted the coronavirus. To make matters worse, he fell in the bathroom while battling flu-like symptoms and was hospitalized for stitches.
Look wrote on Twitter that he wanted his experience to serve as a “teachable moment,” a reminder that “Covid is still here [and] It can still be quite nasty.
Not only is the coronavirus still present, but it appears to be making a comeback in parts of the United States.
Read more on Yahoo News: Is the COVID pandemic really over?
A mini summer peak
Washington has not been particularly rocked by infections, but these cases are a reminder that the virus persists. Students competing in the Solar Car Challenge in Orange County, Calif., for example, saw the race halted this month after about two dozen competitors entered. tested positive for COVID-19.
When Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited the White House earlier this month, several members of his delegation tested positive for COVID-19. In North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper also caught coronavirus this month. These do not appear to be isolated incidents.
Wastewater testing in the San Francisco Bay area, where Wachter lives, shows increasing levels of coronavirus. Los Angeles is experiencing a similar trend.
“There is no question, relative to our nadirs or the stability that we have enjoyed, that there is an uptick in test positivity,” California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, Los Angeles Times.
While most people aren’t locking down or sending kids home from summer camp, the virus seems to be causing a change in mood. “The United States has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases over the past three summers, so it is not surprising to see an uptick,” CDC spokesperson told Yahoo News. Kathleen Conley.
In previous coronavirus waves, colder weather forced people indoors and allowed the pathogen to spread. Extremely hot temperatures could have the same effect. “We are in a very hot year and people are spending a lot of time indoors,” said an infectious disease expert. Dr. Luis Ostrosky told the Wall Street Journal. “People gather in air-conditioned places, which provides an opportunity for transmission. »
Most institutions that had reported coronavirus cases with online trackers no longer produce daily updates, making it difficult to spot local and national trends. For its part, the CDC has radically reduced its own tracking in May.
Read more on Yahoo News: The COVID-19 emergency is not over and the most ‘painless’ way to prevent it is to be ignored, doctors warn
“Clearly on the rise”, but nothing comparable to the past
According to the Centers for Disease Control, COVID-19 hospitalizations increased 10% during the week of July 15 compared to the previous week, from 6,444 hospitalizations to 7,109.
“The risk of being infected is still pretty low, but it’s clearly increasing now,” said Dr. Tatiana Prowell, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins. wrote on Twitter. “Know.”
Wearing a mask continues to be an easy way to protect yourself, especially when traveling or gathering in crowded places like concert halls or sports arenas. And many people have neglected to update their vaccines, meaning they don’t have some protection against this ever-evolving disease. The latest increase could be due, in part, to a sub-variant of Omicron known as Arcturus.
According to the CDC, only 17% of the American population received the bivalent booster introduced last fall.
“Currently, CDC genomic surveillance indicates that the increase in infections is caused by strains closely related to the Omicron strains that have been circulating since early 2022,” the CDC’s Conley told Yahoo News.
These are precisely the strains for which the bivalent booster was created. The Food and Drug Administration is also preparing an updated booster shot that should be available in September.
Read more on Yahoo News: There will be a new COVID vaccine this fall, but will people get it?
Move on
During the Delta peak in summer 2021, nationwide hospitalizations for COVID-19 exceeded 100,000. A year later, the Omicron wave hospitalized 16,000 people Across the country.
By comparison, today’s numbers are much lower. And from the week of July 22, there had been 166 deaths from COVID-19 across the United States – a far cry from the 26,000 weekly deaths recorded in the United States during the first week of 2021.
People at high risk of serious outcomes should ensure they are up to date on their boosters and know where to access treatment if they contract the virus, Dr Leana Wen, A teacher at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told Yahoo News.
Between vaccination and multiple infections, the overwhelming majority of Americans have some immunity. So many have simply accepted the coronavirus as a part of life.
“The pandemic, for all intents and purposes, is now gone,” said Donald Yealy, chief medical officer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. the Washington Post a few weeks ago.
But, he warned, “the virus has not yet disappeared”.
Find out more from our partners: Almost none of the doctors accused of spreading false information about COVID-19 have ever been punished.