The number of Covid infections in the US has nearly doubled in the past month amid the emergence of two highly mutated variants, official data shows.
The U.S. test positivity rate — the proportion of Pap smears that come back positive — rose from one in 15 in the week ending July 15 to one in eight on Aug. 12, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). facts.
It means test positivity is at its highest level in more than a year. In several states, including Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, one in six Covid smears were positive in the past week.
As ordinary Americans no longer do mass testing as they did in earlier periods of the pandemic — only 40,000 Pap smears are reported to the CDC each week — it has become more difficult to detect new outbreaks early.
But all figures indicate that the number of infections is increasing rapidly. Along with the increase in positivity, hospitalization rates for Covid patients have also risen for five weeks in a row – though they still remain 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 as they wait in line to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Some colleges and companies are reinstating mask mandates as the number of Covid cases rises in the US
The rise in cases is believed to be driven by several factors, including the emergence of two highly transmissible variants, the decline in vaccine immunity and the start of the school year as more people gather in large groups and mingle, doctors said. to DailyMail.com.
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 laboratories that have chosen to send their data to the surveillance system.
Dr. Thomas Moore, an infectious disease physician, told DailyMail.com that while the US is seeing a rise in cases, they are not serious like previous variants
The data shows that positivity rose from 6.7 percent in the week ending July 15 to 12.2 percent in the week ending August 12.
The two new variants, EG.5, or Eris, and BA.X, or Pirola, have recently been detected in several countries around the world and in the US.
These variants are highly mutated and are thought to better prevent vaccines and natural immunity from causing infections.
Experts estimate that Eris could be responsible for as much as half of Covid infections, and two cases of Pirola were discovered last week in Michigan and 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 remain largely unknown, as the US only selectively tests for variants in a small sample of positive tests. in hospitals or hospitals. airports.
But while more and more people are becoming infected with Covid and employers may have to deal with the inconvenience of employees missing work, or students having to catch up on schoolwork, Eris and Pirola are not expected to cause a death wave as they have in the past.
The chart above shows Covid variants in the United States. It highlights how EG.5, an emerging variant, has grown 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 physician in Wichita, Kansas, told DailyMail.com, as the US sees a rise in cases, “they are not severe like previous variants,” which is putting pressure on hospitals and healthcare systems.
The new strains are “definitely” spreading faster precisely because “variants arise because they are more transmissible” and have evolved to be more contagious, Dr Moore explained.
However, he agrees with most experts when he says there are no signs that tensions are more serious or dangerous.
He said the symptoms of the flu can be similar to those of a cold or the flu, but also warned that while it’s rare to die from a cold or the flu, Covid could still be deadly.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said he was concerned about the increase in Covid cases, but there was no evidence that the variants are more deadly than previous strains and he does not believe the variants are more likely to cause serious infections or more deaths.
“Certainly, at the moment it doesn’t seem to be more pathogenic, so it doesn’t seem to be more dangerous (than other variants),” Dr Gottlieb said.
In addition, health experts previously told DailyMail.com that the emergence of the variants is “not surprising” and said it was too early to panic.
They reassured them, despite the increased transmissibility, that the new variants were unlikely to reverse the years of immunity they acquired during the more than three years of the pandemic.
From July 15 to August 12, hospitalizations rose from 7,175 to 12,613, though they are still three times lower than at this time last year.
In addition, Dr. Marc Elieson, medical director at Baylor Scott and White Health in Texas, said earlier this week that his colleagues are seeing Covid patients with less severe illness than at any point 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 said. VOS44.
Despite an increase in cases and hospitalizations, weekly deaths have fallen. There were 484 deaths in the week ending July 15, compared to 251 deaths in the week ending August 12.
In addition, data from the CDC shows that only one percent of intensive care unit beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients and that about 1.5 percent of all hospital beds are also occupied by Covid patients.
This could be because the variants don’t cause more severe cases and more than 95 percent of Americans have some level of antibodies to Covid-19 as a result of vaccines, booster shots and past infections, which most experts say is enough to prevent future infections. to keep away from the cold. – or flu-like symptoms.
The chart above shows the percentage of positivity in each state over the past week. In several states, including Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, one in six Covid smears were positive in the past week
While experts say increasing transmissibility is not yet a cause for alarm, their assurances haven’t stopped calls for mitigation efforts and experts from recommending the public start wearing masks again.
An Atlanta university 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 during the recent upswing.
In addition, Seattle government physicians and public health officials called for face coverings to be mandated again in healthcare settings.
Most recently, Lionsgate, a movie studio in Santa Monica, California, reintroduced mask mandates at 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 be in effect “until further notice.”