COVID case rates in the Bay Area have now exceeded those of the devastating surge in the winter of 2021 to 2021, which was caused by what we now know as the “epsilon” variant. A massive survey of COVID-19 survivors sheds new light on predictors of long COVID. And UCSF chief of medicine Dr. Bob Wachter tweeted that 6.2% of people in San Francisco screenings not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms tested positive for coronavirus infection, according to the latest hospital data.
Big jump in Bay Area COVID case rates over past month
The nine counties that make up the Bay Area region currently have the highest coronavirus infection rates in the state, behind only rural Del Norte County. The Bay Area is reporting about 53 new cases per 100,000 residents as of Tuesday, up from 18 per 100,000 a month ago and 42 last week. San Francisco reported about 61 daily cases per 100,000 residents Tuesday, nearly twice the statewide average of 36 per 100,000. A month ago, San Francisco was tallying 24 cases per 100,000 and last week it was 54. The case rates for the Bay Area translate to roughly 4,500 new coronavirus cases per day reported as of Tuesday — about the same as the peak of the winter 2020 to 2021 surge, which was the deadliest period of the pandemic. Case counts likely are much higher because so many people test at home but do not report their results to health authorities and many people do not test at all.
UCSF’s Wachter reconsiders benefits of Paxlovid
UCSF Chief of Medicine Dr. Bob Wachter said he would think twice about recommending the COVID drug Paxlovid after what his wife Katie Hafner experienced: a difficult rebound case of COVID-19 after she took a course of Paxlovid. Wachter in a lengthy Twitter thread weighed the pros and cons of the drug, noting that several studies have shown its efficacy in reducing hospitalizations by up to 89% in high-risk individuals — “a huge effect,” he said. But he paused at increasing reports of infection returning after someone takes the drug, and noted the second round is often worse. “While rebound cases seem to be mild & self-limited, rebound is still a big bummer,” he said. His wife returned to isolation for about a week and her symptoms worsened, he wrote. Wachter said ultimately he would take the drug if he was infected because it can curb severe outcomes like hospitalization and death, “and my confidence that rebound would be inconvenient but not ultimately super-risky.”
Huge new survey sheds light on who is at risk for long COVID
Results from a new survey of more than 100,000 COVID-19 survivors released Tuesday by the personal genetics company 23andMe offer further evidence of a biological cause for the persistent, sometimes debilitating syndrome known as long COVID. Women were at least twice as as likely as men to report being diagnosed with long COVID, as were those who had previously experienced depression or anxiety, according to the South San Francisco firm. Read more about the fascinating report from 23andMe and how it could help inform treatment of long COVID.
1 in 5 infected adults experience long COVID, CDC says
About 1 in 5 adults between ages 18 and 64 who was previously infected with the coronavirus has reported persistent symptoms more than four weeks being diagnosed, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. Among those 65 and older, 1 in 4 survivors reported symptoms consistent with the conditions known as “long COVID” or “post-COVID,” including heart, lung, kidney and gastrointestinal issues, pain, fatigue, loss of smell or taste, and mental health problems. “As the cumulative number of persons ever having been infected with (COVID-19) increases, the number of survivors suffering post-COVID conditions is also likely to increase,” the researchers wrote. The study looked at data from March 2020 to November 2021, before the winter surge fueled by the coronavirus omicron variant. They estimated the number of those infected has increased substantially since then.
Mayor of San Jose tests positive for COVID-19
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced on Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “After feeling under the weather this evening, I tested positive for COVID-19,” he said on Twitter. “I am thankful that my vaccination has prevented any serious symptoms so far.” The mayor encouraged others to keep up on their vaccination schedules, test frequently and “mask up indoors.”
California’s 2nd-largest school district outlines rules for return of mask mandate
San Diego Unified School District outlined criteria that will guide the reinstatement of mask mandates. In a letter to families that was obtained by CBS News 8, officials from California’s second-largest school district said that starting Wednesday they would evaluate each school and require students to wear masks indoors for the remainder of the 2022 academic year and summer when the school hits specific risk metrics: at least three COVID outbreaks at a school within 14 days, and more than 5% of the school population infected; or when 10% or more of the student population is absent each day due to illness over a three consecutive days. If San Diego County is classified as having a high level of COVID risk by the CDC, all schools in the district will return to indoor masking requirements.
BA.2.12.1 now makes up nearly 60% of cases in the U.S.
BA.2.12.1, the highly transmissible sublineage of the coronavirus omicron variant, accounted for 58% of cases in the U.S. last week, according to data published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The variant is crowding out its parent BA.2 subvariant, which made up 39% of cases sequenced by federal health officials. The original BA.1 omicron, which drove the winter surge, now makes up less than 3% of the proportion of cases nationwide. In the Bay Area, BA.2.12.1 and BA.2 are evenly divided with about 48% of the cases each.
