Bay Area COVID case rates have now surpassed those of the devastating winter of 2021-2021 spike caused by what we know today as the “epsilon” variant. A massive survey of COVID-19 survivors sheds new light on predictors of long COVID. And UCSF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bob Wachter tweeted that 6.2% of people in San Francisco screening who showed no COVID-19 symptoms tested positive for coronavirus infection, according to the latest hospital data.
Big spike in Bay Area COVID case rates over the past month
The nine counties that make up the Bay Area region currently have the highest rates of coronavirus infection in the state, behind only rural Del Norte County. The Bay Area is reporting about 53 new cases per 100,000 people Tuesday, up from 18 per 100,000 a month ago and 42 over the last week. San Francisco was reporting about 61 daily cases per 100,000 residents Tuesday, nearly double the national average of 36 per 100,000. A month ago San Francisco had 24 cases per 100,000 and last week it was 54. Case rates for the Bay Area equate to about 4,500 new coronavirus cases per day reported Tuesday — about the level at the peak of the Winters 2020 to 2021, the deadliest time of the pandemic. Case numbers are likely much higher because so many people test at home but don’t report their results to public health officials, and many people don’t test at all.
UCSF’s Wachter reconsiders the benefits of Paxlovid
UCSF Chief Physician 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 completing a Paxlovid course. Weighing the drug’s pros and cons in a lengthy Twitter thread, Wachter noted that multiple studies have shown its effectiveness in reducing hospitalizations by up to 89% in high-risk individuals — “a huge effect,” he said he. But he paused at mounting reports of infections returning after taking the drug, noting that the second round is often worse. “While rebound cases appear to be mild and self-limiting, rebound is still a major disappointment,” he said. His wife returned to isolation for about a week and her symptoms worsened, he wrote. Wachter finally said he would take the drug if he was infected because it could curb serious outcomes like hospitalization and death, “and I’m confident that a rebound would be uncomfortable but ultimately not very risky.”
Huge new survey sheds light on who is at risk of COVID-19 for long
The results of a new survey of more than 100,000 COVID-19 survivors, released Tuesday by personal genetics company 23andMe, offer further evidence of a biological cause for the persistent, sometimes debilitating syndrome known as long COVID. According to the South San Francisco firm, women were at least twice as likely as men to report being diagnosed with long-term COVID, as were those who had previously experienced depression or anxiety. Read about 23andMe’s fascinating report and how it could help inform the treatment of long-stayed COVID.
One in five infected adults has COVID, according to the CDC
About one in five adults between the ages of 18 and 64 who have previously been infected with the coronavirus have reported persistent symptoms more than four weeks after diagnosis, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. Among those over 65, 1 in 4 survivors reported symptoms consistent with conditions known as “Long-COVID” or “Post-COVID” including heart, lung, kidney and gastrointestinal problems, Pain, fatigue, loss of smell or taste, and mental health problems. “As the total number of people who have ever been infected with (COVID-19) increases, the number of survivors suffering from post-COVID illness is also likely to increase,” the researchers wrote. The study examined data from March 2020 to November 2021, before the winter surge fueled by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. They estimated that the number of infected has increased significantly since then.
San Jose mayor tests positive for COVID-19
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “After feeling under the weather tonight, I tested positive for COVID-19.” he said on Twitter. “I’m grateful that my vaccination so far has prevented serious symptoms.” The mayor encouraged others to stick to their vaccination schedules, test frequently and “dress up around the house.”
California’s second-largest school district sets rules for mask-mandatory return
The San Diego Unified School District has set out criteria that will guide the reintroduction of mask requirements. In a letter to families obtained by CBS News 8, officials from California’s second-largest school district said they would be evaluating each school beginning Wednesday and requiring students for the remainder of the 2022 school year and summer when school is Wearing masks indoors meets certain risk metrics: at least three COVID outbreaks at a school in 14 days and more than 5% of school population infected; or when 10% or more of the student population is absent for three consecutive days due to illness. If San Diego County is classified by the CDC as a high-risk COVID country, all schools in the district will revert to indoor mask requirements.
BA.2.12.1 now accounts for nearly 60% of cases in the US
BA.2.12.1, the highly transmissible subline of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, accounted for 58% of cases in the United States last week, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The variant supplanted its parent BA.2 subvariant, which accounted for 39% of cases sequenced by federal health authorities. The original BA.1 omicron that drove the winter surge now accounts for less than 3% of the proportion of cases nationwide. In the Bay Area, BA.2.12.1 and BA.2 are evenly distributed, each accounting for about 48% of cases.
