Category: Covid-19

United States health advisers on Saturday recommended COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers the last group without the shots. The advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously decided that coronavirus vaccines should be opened to children as young as 6 months. The final signoff was expected later in the day from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

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CDC advisers recommend COVID-19 shots for children under 5

The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency is seeing significant recent spikes in COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases, prompting officials to call for more vigilance.

Lab-confirmed coronavirus cases remain near 10,000 per week, but it is important to note that this figure does not include antigen tests many people now take at home. Results from home tests are not tracked by the County and those that do get reported are listed in the probable case count, not the lab-confirmed case counts published by the County.

The County has also seen an increase in reinfections, San Diegans who have tested positive for COVID-19 several times throughout the pandemic. National data shows that prior infection does not necessarily prevent reinfection with some of the newer virus variants.

Hospitalizations for COVID-related illness are also on the rise, up 66 percent in the last 30 days. New ICU admissions rose 68 percent during that same time frame.

Due to the increased level of community transmission, including reinfections, we strongly recommend masking, especially in crowded spaces or around family, friends and colleagues who may be more vulnerable to COVID-19, said Cameron Kaiser, M.D., M.P.H., County deputy public health officer. Our best bet in preventing hospitalizations and deaths is to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, and isolating from others when sick.

Vaccinations are available to everyone 6 months of age and older. Boosters are available for everyone age five and older. Those 50 and older, and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, are encouraged to get a second booster four months after their initial booster.

A variety of treatment options are available to San Diegans who test positive for COVID-19. Treatment is recommended for high-risk individuals because it can prevent illness from progressing to the point where an individual needs hospital services. Timely treatment also lowers the risk of dying from COVID.

Oral medications, in the form of pills, and monoclonal antibodies, in the form of an intravenous infusion, are available at multiple locations and community pharmacies across San Diego. Antiviral pills should be started within five days of developing symptoms of COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies should be given no more than seven days after the onset of symptoms.

To determine which treatment is best for you, talk to your doctor or health care provider, or call 2-1-1 to find a provider.

Data updates to theCountys coronavirus-sd.com websitewill be published Mondays and Thursdays around 5 p.m., with the exception of holidays.

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County Calls for Vigilance as COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Increase - countynewscenter.com

The state is currently experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations, with more than 50 people being hospitalized in the last week.

On Friday, the Wisconsin Hospital Association reported427 COVID patients in hospitals across the state, this is an increase of 53patients from July 1 and also the highest level in the state since early March.

Wisconsin is also experiencing an uptick in transmission, as the positivityrate has increased steadily throughout the week starting July 3, up to 13.2%.

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin:See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses

Omicron subvariants account for majority of US COVID-19 infections

In the week ending July 2nd, the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants accounted for around 70% of the total cases of COVID-19 nationwide.

Buzz60, Buzz60

More: Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Dane County public health officials

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 orDBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased again in Wisconsin, reaching levels the state previously recorded in March - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Those who have regularly fasted intermittently for decades have a lower chance of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 compared to people who do not practice the eating plan, according to a new American study.Related video above: Only Eating During The Day May Add Years To Your LifeThe small study, published July 1 in the peer-reviewed BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, builds on previous research that examines the benefits of intermittent fasting.Researchers looked at 205 patients who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, between March 2020 and February 2021 before vaccines were widely available. The patients who reported regularly fasting at least once a month for an average of 40 years or more had a lower rate of hospitalization or death from infection.Patients were drawn from participants who signed up for a voluntary health registry at Intermountain Healthcare, a not-for-profit network of 33 hospitals based in Utah. Researchers chose this cohort specifically because of the large number of Mormons who live in the state. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints typically do not eat or drink for two consecutive meals on the first Sunday of each month, according to the study.Previous research suggests fasting not only helps burn fat, but offers health benefits as well. Studies have shown fasting can help control inflammation by reducing the amount of pro-inflammatory cells released into the blood. Fasting also triggers autophagy a process by which the body breaks down and destroys old and damaged cells.Fasting also switches its source of energy from glucose to fats and increases the amount of free fatty acids like linoleic acid circulating in the body.While researchers said more work is needed to better understand why intermittent fasting is linked to better outcomes for COVID-19 patients, studies have shown severe cases of COVID-19 infection are typically associated with hyper-inflammation."There's a pocket on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that linoleic acid fits into -- and can make the virus less able to attach to other cells, according to Dr. Benjamin Horne, the director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Healthcare and lead co-author of the paper.Horne noted that the patients in their study have been practicing intermittent fasting for decades, not just a few weeks, and said it is important that patients particularly those who are older, pregnant, diabetic, or have heart and kidney diseases talk with their family doctor first before trying it themselves.The study found of the 205 patients with COVID-19, 11 per cent of those who fasted ended up hospitalized or died, compared to 28.8 per cent of patients who did not engage in the practice.This result was found in younger and older individuals, was present regardless of race or ethnicity, and did not depend on other cardiac risk factors, comorbidities or behaviours. Periodic fasting did not, however, predict whether or not a subject would be infected by SARS-CoV-2, the authors wrote in the paper.Fasting remained significant in all multivariable analyses.Researchers also noted that prior to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Utah was one of only two U.S. states with a COVID-19 case fatality rate of less than one per cent. In addition, Utah had the lowest median age in the U.S. and was ranked as the state with the fourth lowest rate of coronary heart disease, according to the study.A low case fatality rate in Utah could also have occurred because the state has the lowest smoking rate in the U.S.A., has a limited racial/ethnic diversityand had various healthcare system efforts that may have limited the severity of cases, the paper said.Finally, Utah has the lowest per capita ethanol consumption in the U.S.A. that may have limited the spread of COVID-19 at bars and other social locales, but a connection of alcohol to COVID-19 severity is unconfirmed.The study said periodic fasting remained an independent predictor of a lower risk of hospitalization and mortality even after its analyses were adjusted for such factors including age, smoking, alcohol and ethnicity. The authors suggest the relatively higher rate of periodic fasting in Utah compared to other states may have contributed to the lower case fatality rates in the state.While fasting is not a panacea or a quick fix for health problems, low-frequency fasting improves cardiometabolic health even without significant weight loss, and multiple biological mechanisms and epidemiological results support the idea that consistent fasting may limit COVID-19 severity, the studys authors wrote.Some of the limitations of the study include the observational nature of the study and there could be selection biases for participants who enrolled. The fasting history was also self-reported, which could result in imprecise data, the authors cautioned.Researchers in the observational, longitudinal study meaning patients were assessed over a period of time to detect any changes stressed that intermittent fasting was not a substitute for vaccination, but that it could become a complementary therapy to vaccination.

Those who have regularly fasted intermittently for decades have a lower chance of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 compared to people who do not practice the eating plan, according to a new American study.

Related video above: Only Eating During The Day May Add Years To Your Life

The small study, published July 1 in the peer-reviewed BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, builds on previous research that examines the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Researchers looked at 205 patients who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, between March 2020 and February 2021 before vaccines were widely available. The patients who reported regularly fasting at least once a month for an average of 40 years or more had a lower rate of hospitalization or death from infection.

Patients were drawn from participants who signed up for a voluntary health registry at Intermountain Healthcare, a not-for-profit network of 33 hospitals based in Utah. Researchers chose this cohort specifically because of the large number of Mormons who live in the state. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints typically do not eat or drink for two consecutive meals on the first Sunday of each month, according to the study.

Previous research suggests fasting not only helps burn fat, but offers health benefits as well. Studies have shown fasting can help control inflammation by reducing the amount of pro-inflammatory cells released into the blood. Fasting also triggers autophagy a process by which the body breaks down and destroys old and damaged cells.

Fasting also switches its source of energy from glucose to fats and increases the amount of free fatty acids like linoleic acid circulating in the body.

While researchers said more work is needed to better understand why intermittent fasting is linked to better outcomes for COVID-19 patients, studies have shown severe cases of COVID-19 infection are typically associated with hyper-inflammation.

"There's a pocket on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that linoleic acid fits into -- and can make the virus less able to attach to other cells, according to Dr. Benjamin Horne, the director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Healthcare and lead co-author of the paper.

Horne noted that the patients in their study have been practicing intermittent fasting for decades, not just a few weeks, and said it is important that patients particularly those who are older, pregnant, diabetic, or have heart and kidney diseases talk with their family doctor first before trying it themselves.

The study found of the 205 patients with COVID-19, 11 per cent of those who fasted ended up hospitalized or died, compared to 28.8 per cent of patients who did not engage in the practice.

This result was found in younger and older individuals, was present regardless of race or ethnicity, and did not depend on other cardiac risk factors, comorbidities or behaviours. Periodic fasting did not, however, predict whether or not a subject would be infected by SARS-CoV-2, the authors wrote in the paper.

Fasting remained significant in all multivariable analyses.

Researchers also noted that prior to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Utah was one of only two U.S. states with a COVID-19 case fatality rate of less than one per cent. In addition, Utah had the lowest median age in the U.S. and was ranked as the state with the fourth lowest rate of coronary heart disease, according to the study.

A low case fatality rate in Utah could also have occurred because the state has the lowest smoking rate in the U.S.A., has a limited racial/ethnic diversityand had various healthcare system efforts that may have limited the severity of cases, the paper said.

Finally, Utah has the lowest per capita ethanol consumption in the U.S.A. that may have limited the spread of COVID-19 at bars and other social locales, but a connection of alcohol to COVID-19 severity is unconfirmed.

The study said periodic fasting remained an independent predictor of a lower risk of hospitalization and mortality even after its analyses were adjusted for such factors including age, smoking, alcohol and ethnicity. The authors suggest the relatively higher rate of periodic fasting in Utah compared to other states may have contributed to the lower case fatality rates in the state.

While fasting is not a panacea or a quick fix for health problems, low-frequency fasting improves cardiometabolic health even without significant weight loss, and multiple biological mechanisms and epidemiological results support the idea that consistent fasting may limit COVID-19 severity, the studys authors wrote.

Some of the limitations of the study include the observational nature of the study and there could be selection biases for participants who enrolled. The fasting history was also self-reported, which could result in imprecise data, the authors cautioned.

Researchers in the observational, longitudinal study meaning patients were assessed over a period of time to detect any changes stressed that intermittent fasting was not a substitute for vaccination, but that it could become a complementary therapy to vaccination.

Read the original post:

Intermittent fasting linked with less severe cases of COVID-19, study finds - WCVB Boston

According to the Farmers Almanac, were in the dog days of summer (July 3 to August 11). Maybe the hot and lazy image that the term conjures is an apt characterization of where we are with COVID-19 in Minnesota: not overly concerning, not a lot of dramatic changes happening--but not entirely comfortable either.

Hospitalizations continue their downward trend, but cases, which had been on a very slow decline, have now plateaued completely. This suggests we may not be out of the woods yet on this wave. On the other hand, CDCs community level risk rating indicates the best conditions in Minnesota since April, and much of the state is seeing a slow decline in COVID levels in wastewater too. More details below, plus a new look at how racial disparities in COVID hospitalizations have persistedand changed.

And, as always, many thanks to David Montgomery, who continues to maintain the code that processes the Minnesota Department of Healths data, even through their recent timing and format changes.

If we thought we were in a COVID plateau before, its even more the case now. This figure shows the rate of change from the prior week, for cases and hospitalizations. The most recent data point for cases is right at 0% change from the week before.

The rate of change metric shows the recent plateau in more detail.

David Montgomery

This plateau is also pretty evident from our standard cases over time graph.

Cases have plateaued recently according to official reports.

David Montgomery

Hospitalizations are, despite some ups and downs, still on an overall downward trend.

COVID hospitalizations are down from last month.

David Montgomery

Deaths remain in the same range of about five to six per day, although this data takes longer to become public.

COVID-19 deaths have averaged around six per day for the last six weeks.

David Montgomery

For another look at how this wave has progressed, heres a graph that shows the comparison of how many cases are reported compared to the number of cases at the start of a given wave. The main takeaway here is that this wave is persisting longer than past waves. (Take caution in comparing the magnitude of the spring 2022 peak with the previous waves given that availability and reporting of testing has changed throughout the pandemic.)

Although it hasn't resulted in as many hospitalizations and deaths, the spring 2022 wave has persisted longer than previous waves.

David Montgomery

This weeks Community Level map characterizes all but 3 of the states counties as low risk. The exceptions are Carlton, Pipestone and Rock counties, which are rated medium risk. This is the greenest map we have seen from the CDC since April 21, when all but two Minnesota counties were rated low on the community level risk ratings.

This does NOT mean that the CDC is sanguine about the level of COVID-19 transmission still happening in the state, however. Thirty-six Minnesota counties meet or exceed the CDCs high transmission of at least 100 cases per 100,000 residents over a week. Another 39 are in substantial risk, with a weekly COVID-19 case rate of 50 to 99 per 100,000.

As noted in the maps below known COVID-19 case rates are currently highest in Carlton and Rock counties, and hospital admission rates (which also factor into the CDCs aforementioned Community Level ratings) are highest in Rock and Pipestone counties.

According to the Metropolitan Council and their partners at the University of Minnesota Genomic Center, the COVID-19 viral RNA measured in the states largest wastewater treatment plant was down by 11% when comparing the week ending July 4 to the previous week. This follows last weeks report of a minor 3% weekly increase.

The decline is especially welcome given that omicron subvariant BA.5 continues its ascendency, now comprising 62% of detected COVID-19 according to the Metropolitan Council. Just yesterday the New York Times characterized BA.5 as the most transmissible variant yet, warning that it could cause an upswing in cases as it has in several other countries.

COVID-19 detected in Twin Cities Wastewater has declined in the most recent week.

David H. Montgomery | MPR News

The largely flat rate reported by the Metropolitan Council over the past couple of weeks is corroborated by the Us parallel wastewater testing project. That project is reporting a virtually identical COVID-19 load in the Twin Cities Metro region over the week ending June 26 (at least when looking at the moving averages that they emphasize as most dependable).

A couple other regions of the state are faring even better, with both monthly and weekly declines reported in the Central and South East regions. Thankfully the trend appears to be turning the corner in the North West region, where wastewater measurements have shown steepest increases in recent weeks.

The second straight weekly increase in the South West region cancels out some of the promising decreases that had been reported for that region. The most concerning trend coming out of the regional-by-region wastewater testing is in South Central, which is seeing notable increases in viral load whether looking over the past month or week.

This week we also look at the department of healths hospitalization data by race and ethnicity. Hospitalization rates over time have followed patterns that weve also seen in mortality data. Indigenous and Black Minnesotans have borne the highest rates.

Most recently, Black Minnesotans have the highest hospitalization rates.

Elisabeth Gawthrop | APM Research Lab

ICU admissions remained high for a prolonged period for Indigenous Minnesotans during the delta and omicron waves.

Elisabeth Gawthrop | APM Research Lab

Another observation is that at the beginning of waves, it looks as though most groups are often on the same trajectory with similar rates, and then theres a divergence with some groups leveling off or decreasing while other groups continue to see increasing rates.

One of the clearest examples of this is with the overall hospitalizations in spring 2021, with all groups tracking similarly and then only Black and Indigenous patients continuing with the increasing trajectory. That also happened at the beginning of the recent wave, with White and Black Minnesotans having a similar trajectory, and then rates of White patients leveling off and decreasing while rates of Black patients are still on the rise.

While those figures highlight some of the greatest differences in rates among race and ethnicity groups, its harder to see the trends within all groups. Here, the same data is grouped by wave of COVID in Minnesota. The waves are defined by where the lowest rates are in the valleys of the graph above.

Black and Indigenous Minnesotans have seen the highest hospitalization rates.

Elisabeth Gawthrop | APM Research Lab

Indigenous Minnesotans have seen the highest rates of ICU admissions during the pandemic.

Elisabeth Gawthrop | APM Research Lab

Comparing over the different waves of the pandemic here in Minnesota, some things have stayed the same: hospitalization rates have often been highest among the states Black and especially Indigenous populations.

Some things have changed, however. As just one example, in our current wave average hospitalization rates are notably higher among White Minnesotans than they are among Latino Minnesotans. The opposite was true in the first three waves, especially during the initial onset of the pandemic.

To end on a hopeful note, despite the amount of COVID circulating in our communities, each race and ethnicity group has seen its lowest ICU rates of the pandemic during the current wave.

Excerpt from:

The dog days of COVID-19 - MPR News

COVID-19 herd immunity may never happen, here's why

Herd immunity helped wipe out many diseases, but that might not the case with COVID-19. Heres why experts say herd immunity may never be achievable.

Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

Coronavirus cases are rising in the U.S. again.

Eighteenstates reportedmore cases in the week of June 30-July 7 than in the week before, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

Thathas also led to a rise inhospitalizations, with hospitals in 40states reporting more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier. Thirty-eightstates had more patients in intensive care beds, and 17states reported more deaths than a week earlier.

Although the increase in cases doesnt appear to approach the meteoric levels of previous waves, health experts say what's being recorded is likely an undercount because of underreported test results.

Heres everything to know about the coronavirus and the state of the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 66% of eligible people living in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and only about 47% have gotten at least one booster.

In June, federal authorities authorized a COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 6 months. The CDC has yet to report vaccination rates for that population, butpolling data from April found only 18% of parents said they would vaccinatetheir younger children right away, 27% said they definitely wouldnt, and 38% said theyd wait and see.

Looking at vaccination rates among the next age group, 5 to 11 years, health experts worry vaccine uptake among children may be slow. As of June 29, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported only 29% of 5- to 11-year-olds received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

But experts adviseparents to jump on these lifesaving vaccines sooner rather than later. A modeling study published in JAMA Network Open this week found vaccines may have prevented about 235,000 COVID-related deaths among people over 18 from Dec. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021.

"If you want your child fully protected in the fall ... I wouldnt wait,"said Richard Besser, a pediatrician and president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

CDC data shows the omicron subvariant BA.5 has become the dominant strain in the country, making up more than 54% of sequenced COVID-19 cases.

The next most-dominant subvariant is BA.2.12.1, which makesup about 27% of sequenced cases, followed by BA.4 at about 17%.

Although it hasbeen a slow rise since the winter wave, health experts say the proportion of subvariants among new cases continues to increase with every week.

These subvariants have been with us for the past two months already, saidDavid Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Its a relatively slow increase that weve seen relative to the original omicron wave, which happened over the course of the month.

Health experts say symptoms of BA.4 and BA.5 align closely with symptoms from other variants, includingcough, fatigue, headache and muscle pains. Aloss of taste and smell, however, is becoming less common.

Illness also seems to be less severe, with hospitalizations and deaths remaining somewhat steady since the omicron wave. But experts say thatmay be a result of Americans hybrid immunity from vaccination and previous infection.

Dowdy says transmission may be higher than at any other point in the pandemic except during the winters omicron wave but rates of hospitalizations and deaths have remained comparable to last summer.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. between March 2020 and October 2021, according to an analysis of national death certificate data published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, accounting for about 350,000 deaths.

At the height of this 20-month period in January 2021, the U.S.reported more than 4,000 deaths a day. The country is now reporting200 to 400 deaths a day, according to Johns Hopkins and CDC data.

Some experts expect another increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the fall, but Dowdy says theres a chance case rates could look similar to what they are now.

It seems like right now were at a high hum, he said. In the past, what has caused waves to subside has been our immunity to the virus, so I think its possible that our immunity will have a downward effect, or keep cases down.

Aubree Gordon, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, says the worst of COVID-19 may finally be behind us, barring the emergenceof any new variants.

Experts say there have been no signs of a new variant. A study published in Nature this week found wastewater-based surveillance can detect emerging variants of concern up to two weeks earlier than clinical sequencing.

Hopefully we will see that severity (of disease) continue to decrease and the rate of infections and number of cases will come down as well, Gordon said. Were at the point in the U.S. where it is quite likely that the worst is over.

Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

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COVID: Omicron variant, BA.5 symptoms and more updates on the pandemic - USA TODAY

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) Hidalgo and Cameron Counties have reported nearly 1,000 new cases of COVID-19.

HIDALGO COUNTY

Through the July 5 to July 7 period, Hidalgo County has reported 625 new cases of COVID-19 and one related death of a vaccinated male in his 60s, according to a press release sent by the county.

The number of cases is the total of confirmed, 440, plus probable, 185, cases. 92 of those are being treated in Hidalgo County hospitals; 67 of those patients are adults and 25 are pediatric patients. 12 are in intensive care and only one of those is a pediatric patient.

The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Hidalgo County is now 211,443, and 3,930 people have succumbed to COVID-19.

CAMERON COUNTY

Cameron County has received an additional 351 laboratory reports of COVID-19; 167 of those cases are confirmed reports based on PCR testing and 177 were probable reports based on antigen testing.

There were no reports of COVID-19-related deaths on July 8. There have been 2,259 COVID-19-related deaths.

Editors Note: A confirmed case is a person who has tested positive through a molecular test (PCR) that looks for the viruss genetic material. A probable case is a person who has either tested positive through an antigen test or has a combination of symptoms and known exposure to someone with COVID-19 without a more likely diagnosis.

This story was updated to include Cameron Countys numbers.

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Hidalgo and Cameron Counties report nearly 1K new COVID-19 cases - KVEO-TV

WASHINGTON The U.S. Army announced COVID-19 vaccination rates and exemption requests for the Total Army as of July 7, 2022.

As the Army accesses and discharges Soldiers and continues to refine data tracking processes, the vaccination percentages will vary slightly.

The Army will publish additional details as they become available.

For additional information on Army vaccination rates, contact the U.S. Army Media Relations Division at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-ocpa.mbx.mrd-press-desk@army.mil. For queries specific to the Army National Guard, please contact the National Guard Bureau, ng.ncr.ngb-arng.mesg.ngb-media-desk-owner@army.mil. For queries specific to the U.S. Army Reserve, please contact Mr. John Bradley, john.b.bradley2.civ@army.mil.

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Army updates Total Army COVID-19 vaccination statistics | Article | The United States Army - United States Army

Much of Europe is a hot spot for COVID-19, thanks to the latest versions of the omicron variant.

The fast-spreading omicron subvariants known as BA.4 and BA.5 are sweeping through France, Greece, Italy and other major tourist destinations this summer as pandemic restrictions have eased. European cases are up some 70% in the past two weeks, according to data reported by The New York Times.

The New York Times said there were 57 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Europe as of Wednesday, an increase from 33 per day per 100,000 two weeks earlier and the biggest jump in case counts seen anywhere in the world. France, with 190 cases per 100,000, ranks behind only Brunei in Asia and New Zealand.

The BA.5 subvariant is now dominant in the United States, including in Utah, where the seven-day average case count fell just under 6% to nearly 991 cases statewide as of numbers released Thursday by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

Both BA.4 and BA.5 are believed to be more transmissible than previous versions of the omicron variant that sent cases soaring to record levels last winter, able to more easily infect the fully vaccinated and boosted as well as those whove already had COVID-19, even recently.

But even though hospitalizations are rising in many European countries, Dr. Michael Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organizations Health Emergencies Program, told The New York Times what were not seeing is an increase in intensive care unit admissions, so the vaccines are still very much working.

Ryan also said the current wave hitting Europe could be worse, describing almost a collapse in testing that may mean the actual number of cases is much higher. Under Utahs steady state pandemic response, most testing for the virus has been turned over to private providers, and the results from home test kits are not reported.

Utah continues to see more people hospitalized for COVID-19, although there was a slight decrease in new admissions. The states weekly update showed a seven-day average of just over 189 people hospitalized, just under a 15% increase, and nearly a 9% increase in ICU cases, to a seven-day average of more than 30 people.

State health officials reported 14 additional deaths from COVID-19 in seven counties Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Davis, Salt Lake, Summit and Utah for the week ending Thursday, bringing the number of lives lost to the virus in Utah to 4,847.

People who have gotten their COVID-19 shots or the virus itself still have strong protection against severe illness, said Dr. Brandon Webb, an Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases physician, even as the omicron subvariants are increasingly able to evade the antibodies produced by vaccinations and infection.

We have lower risk of hospitalization as we continue to see growing immunity at large within the community. What that does is it buffers that severe outcome. Thats what were seeing right now across the country, high community transmissionbut low rates of hospitalization and death, Webb said. Were very grateful for that.

And although the federal government is making an antiviral treatment for COVID-19 more accessible by allowing pharmacists to prescribe the pills, the doctor said thats not a substitute for tried-and-true public health measures that have greatly benefited us, especially vaccinations.

One of the most important things high-risk individuals can do is get to be fully vaccinated, Webb said, including the booster doses recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention one for everyone 5 and older and at least one more for those over 50 or with certain medical conditions.

The rest is here:

Where is the worlds latest hot spot for COVID-19 BA.5 subvarient surge? - Deseret News

The omicron subvariant BA.5 is gaining a strong foothold in the United States, accounting for more than 50% of cases in a months time due to its high transmissibility and the ability to evade antibodies.

Together with the other new subvariant BA.4, cases and hospitalizations have surged, per The New York Times.

The seven day average of cases in the U.S. as of July 7 was 106,549, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions data tracker. The number of infections is lower than what previous COVID-19 waves have brought on, like the wave in January that skyrocketed to low seven-digit numbers, but the number of cases are still trending upward, per the report.

While the CDC said there is no evidence that the two subvariants are more severe than others, its clear that immunity through previous infection or vaccination is not as effective against them.

Many scientists agree that the pandemic is not over, including Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Floridas College of PublicHealth.

Were seeing dramatic increases in the number of cases and hospitalizations in many places throughout the United States, said Salemi, per The Guardian.

Weve seen it coming for a while Weve seen it go pretty unabated.

The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 people in the U.S. live in areas that are at high risk from COVID-19, while close to 4 in 10 are at medium risk, putting a large chunk of the population especially the older age groups more vulnerable to infection than its been since Feburary, Salemi added.

Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, pegged BA.5 as the worst version of the virus that weve seen in a Substack blog published in late June. In conversation with The New York Times, Topol addressed the present situation: Theres a wave afoot, theres no question about it.

My concern is the length of it, he added.

The World Health Organization monitors the COVID-19 variants, labeling certain mutations as variants of concern.

Omicron is deemed as a variant of concern, while some of its lineages BA.2.75, BA.13, BA.2.11, BA.2.9.1, BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 are being closely watched.

The spike proteins in BA.4 and BA.5 have mutations that differentiate it from the earlier forms of the virus but the newest strain, BA.2.75, has even more mutations, meaning that it could create a wave of its own.

AsI previously reported, omicron subvariants have a shorter incubation period, which is why the symptoms may appear earlier.

The mostcommon omicron-related symptomsare:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed common symptoms for COVID-19. The symptoms are:

Read more:

New omicron subvariant may bring a severe COVID-19 wave. Here are the symptoms to look out for - Deseret News