An epidemiologist said Americans are still having to mask themselves indoors during the latest Covid-19 wave, possibly even in their own homes.
Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas, told PBS News Hour last week that Americans should still “wear masks in crowded areas, especially during a storm surge.”
She also seemed to endorse wearing masks in your own home “if you want to reduce transmission of the virus in your home.”
“Certainly at home, (masks work) if you want to reduce transmission in the household,” she said. She also advised that if you test positive, “please wear a mask when you leave isolation after five days.”
Her comments come amid a minor resurgence in the virus – with hospital admissions up 12 percent in the past week, believed to be due to a new, more contagious variant called ‘Eris’, which is still considered mild.
However, the increase is from a small base and the rate is still a fraction of what it was at this time last year.
While Covid hospitalizations are rising, Covid numbers remain at historic lows. Recent deaths have also remained static and are at their lowest level since the Covid outbreak, at around 500 a week
The chart above shows Covid deaths recorded in the US per 100,000 people. These have not started to rise and remain at a record low
The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that 8,000 patients were admitted to hospitals nationwide during the week of July 22, a 12 percent increase from the previous week.
This was the first week-over-week increase since December.
Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas, told PBS News Hour last week that Americans should still “wear masks in crowded areas, especially during a peak.”
Many current cases have been attributed to the new highly contagious variant ‘Eris’, which has quickly become dominant in America. Experts believe it is now responsible for one in five U.S. infections.
The World Health Organization has classified Eris, formally known as EG.5, as a “variant of interest.”
However, the CDC has a slightly different classification system and has classified Eris as a “supervised” variety and not one of “interest” or “concern.”
Experts have said that EG.5 is one of the fastest growing variants in the world, which may be due to a ‘slightly favorable mutation’ meaning it spreads the fastest than its relatives.
It has also been discovered in China, South Korea, Japan, and Canada, among others.
In the first week of July, 7.5 percent of Covid cases were due to EG.5. Now that is 17.3 percent of the cases.
“Collectively, the available evidence does not suggest that EG.5 has additional public health risks compared to the other currently circulating descendants of Omicron,” the WHO said in a risk assessment.
A more comprehensive evaluation of EG.5’s risk was needed, it added.
Despite the increase in Covid cases, rates remain at an all-time low. In comparison, at the height of the US pandemic in January 2022, there were a whopping 150,674 hospitalizations. Last year around this time there were just over 44,000.
Recent deaths have also remained static and are at their lowest level since the Covid outbreak, at about 500 a week.
Dr Jetelina’s mask recommendations come amid a raft of recent evidence suggesting that Covid restrictions, such as mask-wearing, have stunted growth and development in children.
A CDC report published earlier this year found that from 2019 to 2021, the number of children ages three to 17 with a developmental disability increased from 7.4 percent to 8.5 percent. That is an increase of 17 percent.
And boys were twice as likely to have one than girls, with one in 10 diagnosed. Boys also had more intellectual disabilities than girls, with 2.3 percent diagnosed compared to 1.4 percent.
In addition, there is an article that was published in the journal last January JAMA that looked at 225 children born in 2020 revealed that within six months, babies are less likely to be crawling and smiling at themselves in a mirror. It also showed that they had reduced social and problem-solving skills.
“I understand the mindset for, man, thank God that happened,” Dr. Jetelina said.
“But we are doing the public a disservice by rolling over and saying, Let’s move on, because the truth is the virus doesn’t care. COVID is clearly still here.”
‘It will be with us. It’s going to cause malfunctions. And it will cause many people to lose their lives.”