Bay Area swells exceed winter peaks in some cases
Bay Area coronavirus infections have now passed the peaks of the devastating winter wave of early 2021, but high levels of vaccination and immunity are keeping hospitalizations at more manageable levels so far. Deaths remain remarkably low across the region. Across California, coronavirus cases continue to rise sharply, with the Bay Area reporting higher levels overall than the rest of the state, and officials said the current spike shows no signs of abating. Read more about the COVID trends in the Bay Area.
Large study reveals who is at long-term risk of COVID
The results of a new survey of more than 100,000 COVID-19 survivors, released Tuesday by genetics company 23andMe, offer further evidence of a biological cause for the persistent syndrome known as Long COVID. Read the full story in 23andMe’s survey of genetic testing customers, which sheds light on who is most at risk from post-COVID issues like body aches, brain fog and chronic fatigue. The findings also offer new clues as to what may be causing the baffling symptoms.
The number of above-average deaths in the US exceeds that of most wealthy nations
According to World Health Organization data analyzed by The New York Times, the United States has had more deaths during the pandemic than most other affluent countries. In the US, deaths were 15% above normal, behind only four other large countries of the same income group: Chile, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. More nations categorized as upper-middle income or low- or low-income had above-average death tolls at or above US levels, including a dramatic 97% higher-than-usual figure in Peru, the data show. But deaths in the United States rose even higher than in several countries with far fewer resources, including Argentina and the Philippines.
1 in 5 infected adults will have long-term COVID, CDC says
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 ever infected with SARS-CoV-2 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.
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.
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 the families obtained by CBS News 8, officials from California’s second-largest school district said they would be evaluating each school and requiring students to do so, beginning Wednesday, for the remainder of the 2022 school year and summer when the school is indoors , wearing masks 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.
UCLA research team wins $1 million grant to study long COVID
A team of researchers from UCLA Health has received a $1 million research grant from the American Heart Association to study the cardiovascular effects of a long COVID. Over the next three years, the group will study whether residual fragments of the coronavirus may remain in the body even after an infection has been cleared, contributing to the persistent symptoms seen in patients with long COVID. “We believe this is a novel hypothesis for what is causing the long-term effects seen in patients with long COVID, and we hope to ultimately identify effective therapies for this new, often debilitating syndrome,” said Dr. Jeffrey Hsu, clinical assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine. The team will also study the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis associated with COVID-19.
One in 16 asymptomatic people in SF will test positive in UCSF hospitals
dr UCSF chief medical officer Bob Wachter tweeted that an average of 6.2% of people who did not show COVID-19 symptoms tested positive for coronavirus infection, according to UCSF hospital data. “In a crowd of 150 people… there is a 99.993% chance that at least 1 person has Covid,” Wachter tweeted.
The number of COVID cases in children in the US surpasses 100,000 for the first time in 3 months
Last week, 107,140 pediatric COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States, with children accounting for over 19% of cases nationwide, according to data released Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. The number marks a 313% rise in pediatric COVID cases since they fell to their lowest level this year with 25,915 cases reported in the first week of April. It is also the first week since February 24 that child cases have surpassed 100,000.
SF is pushing for boosters for kids ages 5-11 amid rising cases
The San Francisco Department of Health recommended Monday that parents and caregivers schedule appointments for children ages 5 to 11 to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as new cases continue to rise in the city. Healthcare providers on Friday began offering the extra doses to children who are five months away from the basic two-dose vaccine series. “Although children and adolescents are prone to mild symptoms, contracting COVID-19 can be disruptive and have extremely negative consequences for families and other family members,” said Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco Health Officer. “The COVID-19 vaccine, and a booster dose when needed, reduces the risk of infection and serious illness so kids can finish the school year healthy and start summer vacation.” San Francisco, which reports the highest rate of new cases in the state, ranks average 68 daily cases per 100,000 people, well above the national average of 35 per 100,000.
FDA committee meets next month to review Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children
A key Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will meet next month to review Pfizer and Moderna’s emergency use authorization applications for their respective children’s coronavirus vaccines, the agency said Monday. The Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee will meet on June 14 to review Moderna’s application for vaccines for children ages 6 to 17. The next day it will meet to consider Moderna’s application for vaccines for children aged 6 months to 5 years and Pfizer for children aged 6 months to 4 years. Children under the age of 5 are the only age group not currently eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Children ages 5 to 17 can get the first serial and booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, the only one currently approved in the US for people under the age of 18, and prevention opted out last week.
WHO chief warns: ‘We lower our vigilance at our peril’
The COVID-19 pandemic is “certainly not over yet,” the head of the World Health Organization warned Sunday, despite a drop in reported cases since the peak of the Omicron wave. He told governments gathered in Geneva for the WHO’s annual meeting that “we lower our vigilance at our peril”. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Rejecting testing and sequencing means we are blind to the development of the virus.” He also noted that nearly 1 billion people in low-income countries are still unvaccinated. While 60% of the world’s population is vaccinated, “it’s nowhere over until it’s everywhere,” he said.
The disease “recovers” in some people after they stop COVID treatment
As the number of Americans taking the COVID treatment Paxlovid skyrockets, many people are reporting a “recovery” after taking the drug — including some vaccine scientists and doctors who have documented their experiences on Twitter. In addition to a return of symptoms, rebound also means someone who thought they had recovered may still be contagious and should isolate for more days. Read more about the so-called rebound effect that affects some people.
