The AP reports that BA.5, the highly transmissible covid variant now spreading across the U.S., accounts for 65% of cases. In other news on the pandemic: reinfection risk, loss of smell, mask mandates, and more.
AP:
Experts Rue Simple Steps Not Taken Before Latest COVID Surge
“It’s well past the time when the warning could have been put out there,” said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who has has called BA.5 “the worst variant yet.” … Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said federal health officials need to be push harder on masks indoors, early detection and prompt antiviral treatment. “They are not doing all that they can,” Mokdad said. (Johnson, 7/13)
ABC News:
Experts Reveal How Likely Reinfection Is From COVID With Spread Of Omicron Subvariant BA.5
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevailing theory was that if someone was infected with the virus, they were immune — at least for a while. But a growing number of Americans seem to be contracting the virus more than once. A recent ABC News analysis of state data found that, as of June 8, there have been more than 1.6 million reinfections across 24 states, but experts say the number is likely much higher. (Kekatos, 7/14)
Modern Healthcare:
Health Systems Watch For Next COVID Surge Amid Rising Cases
The strains, including BA.4, BA.5 and, most recently, BA.2.75, are highly transmissible, evading vaccines and immune responses. The seven-day moving average for new cases topped 118,000 this week, compared with about 31,000 cases three months ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recent case numbers are largely underreported, however, because of the availability of at-home tests. (Hudson, 7/13)
ABC News:
COVID Hospitalizations Forecast To Increase Amid Concerns Over New Omicron Subvariants
For the first time since May, COVID-19-related hospital admissions are forecasted to increase again in the U.S., as highly infectious omicron subvariants continue to spread, according to updated forecasting models used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Mitropoulos, 7/13)
NBC News:
BA.5 Symptoms: Is Loss Of Smell More Common?
Doctors note that what they’re seeing during the current rise in cases — fueled by the hyperinfectious BA.5 omicron subvariant — is still based on anecdotal evidence. But health care providers like Valentina Parma, a psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who works with Covid patients, are noticing more patients reporting loss of smell. (Sullivan, 7/13)
In covid news from California —
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Deaths In L.A. County Rising As Ultra-Contagious Subvariants Spread Infections
The number of weekly COVID-19 deaths reported in Los Angeles County has doubled over the last month — the first significant increase in fatalities since the winter surge. Over the last week, the nation’s most populous county tallied roughly 100 COVID-19 deaths, the highest total in three months. A month ago, the county was reporting about 50 deaths a week. (Money and Lin II, 7/13)
AP:
Masks Could Return To Los Angeles As COVID Surges Nationwide
Los Angeles County, home to 10 million residents, is facing a return to a broad indoor mask mandate later this month if current trends in hospital admissions continue, county health Director Barbara Ferrer said this week. (Johnson and Weber, 7/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: Invented ‘Centaurus’ Nickname For New BA.2.75 Subvariant Catches On
… Ed Yong, a writer for The Atlantic, commented, “It is wild to me that some random guy on Twitter decided that the BA.2.75 variant was going to be known as ‘Centaurus’ and it completely worked.” The World Health Organization, which names COVID variants using the Greek alphabet, has not yet given BA.2.75 an official designation. (Vaziri, Buchmann and Allday, 7/13)
Also —
CIDRAP:
Co-Infection With Influenza Could Suppress Replication Of SARS-CoV-2
A study yesterday in the Journal of Virology suggests that, while co-infection with influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 does not change the trajectory of influenza A, contracting influenza A first could suppress any COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. (7/13)
Bloomberg:
WHO Panel Advises Against Generic Antidepressant To Treat Covid
The drugs, fluvoxamine and colchicine, could potentially cause harm, the group of experts said in the BMJ medical journal Thursday. The panel didn’t give advice for severe illness, saying there was a lack of data. (Fourcade, 7/13)
This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
