Chicago — Covid-19 is once again booming across the United States in what experts consider it to be the most contagious pandemic variant to date.
But this time something is different. Public health authorities are curbing.
In Chicago, where the county’s Covid warning level was raised to “high” last week, the city’s top doctors said there was no reason for residents to let the virus control their lives. The Louisiana State Health Director likened the new increase in Covid cases there to a heavy rain called “a surge in a surge,” but characterized the situation as a concern but not a warning. rice field.
And Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, Public Health Officer, King County, Washington, Said on thursday Authorities were discussing the reissue of Maskman Date, but wanted the general public to voluntarily wear masks. “We wouldn’t be able to impose an endless set of obligations on people to force this, that, and other things,” he said.
The latest surge caused by the surge in BA.5 subvariant cases in this country since May has increased infections in at least 40 states, especially the Great Plains, Western and Southern. Hospitalizations have increased by 20% in the last two weeks, with an average of more than 40,000 people infected with the coronavirus per day in US hospitals.
But more than two years after the pandemic began, public health officials have only issued a quiet warning in a situation where they want to change with vaccines, treatments, and improved immunity. Deaths are on the rise, but so far this new wave has only been modest. State and local public health officials also say that clear reality needs to be taken into account along the road from Seattle to New York City. Most Americans meet the new Covid wave by shrugging the group, avoiding masks, joining the crowd indoors, and moving. From the endless barrage of virus warnings a few months ago.
“I strongly feel that you can’t always be a kind of crybaby,” said Dr. Allison Arwadi, Commissioner of the Chicago Health Department, to see if the hospital is tense and then another city-wide. Said to consider Maskman Date. .. “I would like to save my mask requirements and update my vaccine requirements in case of significant changes.”
Complicating the country’s understanding of this BA.5 wave is the lack of data. Since the early months of the pandemic, there has been little accurate information about the actual number of infections in the United States. As public test sites are shut down and home testing (when people test) becomes more common, publicly reported data is lacking and uneven.
Still, experts say the outline of the new wave is undeniable.
“You don’t have to count every drop to know it’s raining,” said Dr. Joseph Canter, Louisiana’s State Health Officer and Medical Director. “And now it’s pouring.”
In that state, the health department analyzes a wide range of data to track the spread of the virus, including case numbers, samples from an expanding network of wastewater testing sites, test positive rates, and hospitalization indicators.
The BA.5 subvariant, first detected in South Africa in January and spread to many European countries, accounted for 1% of cases in the United States in mid-May, but now at least three-thirds of new cases. Occupies two. domestic.
Anita Khleang, assistant director of the San Antonio Health Department, said the region has seen an increase in cases for the sixth straight week. However, some measures, such as the low number of deaths to date, suggest that vaccines and treatments are entering a newer, less deadly stage of the pandemic, which has significantly improved survival potential. She said she was doing it.
“We are not at the same level as the previous surge,” she said.
So far, the current wave of hospitalization and death victims is inferior to the previous surge. At the peak of the Omicron surge in early 2022, nearly 159,000 people were hospitalized daily.
Experts warn that it is difficult to predict the coming months, especially given the high transmission rates of BA.5. Words of caution from national health leaders have slowly increased in intensity over the last few weeks.
Still, federal health officials have a delicate balance, even if they repeatedly ask people to test for Covid before attending large indoor rallies or visiting people who are particularly vulnerable and immunocompromised. So, Americans don’t have to change their lives, but be aware of the Covid threat.
Dr. Anthony S. Forch, President Biden’s chief medical adviser on the virus, said at a White House press conference, “It shouldn’t disrupt our lives,” and new variants could continue to emerge. He added that he had sex. “But we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with.”
California stood out as an exception, as health authorities in many places avoided issuing new virus restrictions during the recent surge. There, public health authorities have issued strict warnings and are moving towards re-imposing restrictions.
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And the weekly death toll in Los Angeles County from the coronavirus doubled from about 50 a month ago to 100 last week. When more than 400 people die each week in the county, the death toll is still below winter Omicron surge levels.
Los Angeles officials say they plan to reinstate the county-wide indoor mask obligations as early as the end of this month. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said any increase in masking would help delay the transmission of the virus.
“I’m the same as everyone else. I hate wearing that mask, but more than that, I hate the idea that I might accidentally send it to someone else,” Feller said. Told. “That’s my greatest fear. We’re happy because we’re anxious to get infected with this virus.”
Charles Chiu, an infectious disease specialist and virologist at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests that data obtained from patients do not cause more serious disease in patients than other Omicron variants. It states that it is. However, he says he is concerned that the variants may be unstoppable because they are highly infectious and can avoid vaccination and protection of previous infections.
“It looks like we can’t control it,” he said.
Dr. Chiu said he sympathizes with the plight of government officials trying to mitigate the spread of the virus. They oppose the masses who refute the new directive, even in some of the countries where people were previously most advanced. In places where Covid mitigation is mandated, such as the New York Subway, compliance with masking rules is becoming increasingly inadequate.
“There are tasks that public health officers can’t do here,” Dr. Chiu said.
In New York City, the percentage of positive tests, cases, and hospitalizations are all rising. However, health officials have resisted the reissue of mask obligations, and many residents are worried, relying on vaccines, immunity from previous infections, and antiviral drugs to protect against severe illness. It states that it is not. The city no longer has a contact tracing system or requires vaccination certification to enter the restaurant.
In Louisiana, authorities have seen an increase in hospitalizations for Covid people in the state, but they say that more than 2,000 inhabitants are far less than the previous surge of occasional hospitalizations.
“I feel much more empowered by our ability to protect ourselves,” said Dr. Canter.
During the height of the delta wave in Louisiana in 2021, approximately 20% of Covid patients admitted were on ventilator, according to Dr. Canter, state health officer and medical director. That figure dropped to 10 percent during the state’s first Omicron surge and is now below 5 percent.
For those at highest risk of serious illness from Covid, the feeling of reduced public health warnings was less comfortable, and in fact, they were more worried about getting infected.
Neyda Bonilla, 48, from the Texas mission, was diagnosed with breast cancer in April. With her increasing number of cases in southern Texas, she fears that infections while receiving her chemotherapy can have a devastating effect on her health.
She received all the vaccines and boosters available and is now wearing a surgical mask in public and rarely leaves home except to work as an ambulance company administrator.
“I hope people will open their eyes,” she said. “Don’t remove the mask. That’s not the end.”
But even in some cities where residents are taking precautions against Covid throughout the pandemic, the recent surge has not caused widespread vigilance.
Jeff Sheppler, general manager of Spanish Table, a specialty store selling Iberian wine and food in Berkeley, California, went across the bay of San Francisco to a Giants game and recently attended a Pearl Jam concert at the Oakland Coliseum. Do not hesitate to wave when you say you attended.
“I’m tired of wearing a mask every day of the day,” he said. “I got the vaccine in my life and got the Covid. I think it’s pretty safe.”
Julie Bosman Report from Chicago, Thomas Fuller From San Francisco, and Edgar Sandoval From San Antonio.The report was contributed by Soumya Karlamangla, Eliza Faucet, Sarah KahalanWhen Holly Secon..
