According to official data, Covid infections in the US nearly doubled in the past month due to increases in two severely mutated variants.
The test positivity rate in the United States — the proportion of swabs that come back positive — has fallen from one in 15 in the week ending July 15 to one in eight by April 12, according to the latest study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). increased Aug. Data.
This means that test positivity has reached its highest level in more than a year. In several states, including Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, every sixth Covid swab has been positive in the last week.
With ordinary Americans no longer testing en masse like earlier in the pandemic — only 40,000 swabs are reported to the CDC each week — it has become more difficult to catch new outbreaks early.
But all the metrics suggest infections are rising fast. With the rise in positivity, hospitalization rates of Covid patients have also risen for five consecutive weeks – although they are still near historic lows.
The graph above shows the percentage of positive Covid cases (brown line) and the weekly number of new Covid hospital admissions (blue bars).
Americans wear face masks while waiting in line to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Some colleges and businesses are reinstating mask requirements as Covid cases surge across the US
The rise in cases is thought to be due to several factors, including the emergence of two highly transmissible variants, waning vaccine immunity and the start of the school year as more people gather in large groups and socialize, they said Doctors told .
Test positivity rates are reported to the CDC by the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), which receives the reported number of weekly tests from labs that have chosen to send their data to the surveillance system.
dr Thomas Moore, an infectious disease doctor, told that while the US has seen an increase in cases, they are not as severe as previous variants
The data shows positivity rose from 6.7 percent in the week ended July 15 to 12.2 percent in the week ended August 12.
The two new variants EG.5 or Eris and BA.X or Pirola have recently been spotted in several countries around the globe and in the USA.
These variants are highly mutated variants that are thought to be better at avoiding vaccination and natural immunity and causing infections.
Experts estimate that Eris could account for up to half of Covid infections, and just last week two cases of Pirola were detected in Michigan and on Tuesday in Virginia.
dr Rajendram Rajnarayanan, of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas, told DailyMail.Com that the clinical severity and symptoms of the variants are largely unknown because the US is only selective in a small sample of positive tests in hospitals or hospitals Variants test airports.
But while more people are contracting Covid and employers may be grappling with the inconvenience of workers missing work or students catching up on schoolwork, Eris and Pirola are not expected to unleash a deadly surge like in the past.
The graphic above shows Covid variants in the United States. It shows how EG.5, an emerging variant, has been growing rapidly across the country
The graph above shows the percentage of positive Covid cases (brown line) and the weekly number of Covid deaths (blue bars).
dr Thomas Moore, an infectious disease doctor in Wichita, Kansas, told that while cases are increasing in the US, “they are not as severe as previous variants,” putting a strain on hospitals and healthcare systems.
The new strains are spreading “absolutely” faster because “variants are emerging because they’re more transmissible” and have evolved into a more contagious development, explained Dr. Moore.
However, he agrees with most experts that there is no evidence that the exposure is more severe or dangerous.
He said the strains’ symptoms could resemble those of a cold or flu, but also warned that while dying from a cold or flu is rare, Covid still has the potential to be deadly.
Lionsgate Studios is asking office staff to don face coverings and retest as hospital rates for Covid soar in week five
A major Hollywood studio has reintroduced the Covid mask requirement for fear of rising virus rates and a new heavily mutated variant
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said he was concerned about the rise in Covid cases but there was no evidence the variants were any more deadly than previous strains and he didn’t think the variants were any more likely to cause serious infections or more deaths.
“It certainly doesn’t appear to be more pathogenic at this point, so it doesn’t appear to be more dangerous either.” [than other variants]’ said dr. Gottlieb.
Additionally, health experts have previously told that the emergence of the variants was “not surprising” and it was too early to panic.
They asserted that despite the increased transmissibility, the new variants were unlikely to reverse years of immunity acquired over the more than three years of the pandemic.
From July 15 to August 12, hospitalizations increased to 12,613 from 7,175, although they are still three times lower than at this time last year.
In addition, said Dr. Marc Elieson, medical director at Baylor Scott and White Health in Texas, earlier this week that his colleagues are treating Covid patients with less severe illness than they have ever been during the pandemic.
“What viruses and other organisms do over time.” [is] They become more contagious but have less power to kill and hurt people,” he told FOX44.
Despite a rise in cases and hospital admissions, weekly deaths have been falling. There were 484 deaths in the week ended July 15, compared to 251 deaths in the week ended August 12.
In addition, CDC data shows that only one percent of intensive care unit beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients and about 1.5 percent of all hospital beds are also occupied by Covid patients.
That could be because the variants don’t produce more severe cases, and more than 95 percent of Americans have some level of antibodies to Covid-19 from vaccinations, booster shots, and previous infections, which most experts say is enough to nearly prevent future infections to keep cold – or flu-like symptoms.
The map above shows the percent positivity rate in each state over the past week. In several states, including Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, every sixth Covid swab has been positive in the last week
Although experts say rising transmissibility is not yet a cause for concern, their assurances have not led to calls for containment efforts and experts recommending the public start wearing masks again.
A college in Atlanta became the first institution to mandate masks for students and staff just days before classes began.
The new mandate requires students and staff to wear masks in hallways and lecture halls for at least two weeks given the recent spike.
In addition, government doctors and public health officials in Seattle called for face coverings to be made mandatory again in healthcare settings.
Most recently, Lionsgate, a film studio in Santa Monica, California, reinstated mask requirements in its offices after several employees tested positive for Covid-19. The studio also encouraged its employees to test themselves before coming to work. Lionsgate said the rules for its nearly 5,000 employees would remain in place “until further notice”.