So now we know.
Two years and 10 months after the pandemic started, this is what “living with COVID” looks like: the steady drumbeat of new variants, continued vaccine hesitancy, the ever-present specter of the arrival of yet another surge.
Welcome to the new normal.
To catch up on the latest COVID news, we visited recently with St. Tammany Health System infectious disease expert Dr. Mike Hill. Here’s what he had to tell us:
Let’s start with China, which seems to be dominating headlines right now. What’s going on there?
On one level, it’s hard to say, given that COVID data released by China isn’t really reliable. But we do know this: It isn’t pretty.
Local governments in China are reportedly logging hundreds of thousands of new cases every day, and videos of patients crowding hospitals suggest the healthcare infrastructure might be struggling to keep up.
Variant-wise, what’s fueling that Chinese surge? Omicron? Delta? Something else?
Chinese health officials say it’s BF.7, an omicron subvariant that seems to be better equipped to evade immunity, and tests of travelers arriving in Italy from China suggest that might be true.
That being said, there’s a fear a nasty new variant could emerge, which is one reason the U.S. government announced it is requiring a negative COVID test for all travelers arriving on U.S. shores from flights originating in China.
What does the COVID situation look like closer to home?
Well, it’s better than what’s happening in China, that’s for sure. At St. Tammany Health System, our COVID numbers continue to be at manageable levels, and we are fully equipped and prepared to care for our community.
It’s worth noting that holiday gatherings certainly seemed to fuel an uptick in local cases. On Nov. 8, we had just two inpatients under COVID care at our Covington hospital. On the Monday after Thanksgiving, that jumped to 14 inpatients. Today, it was at 24, surely a result of holiday gatherings.
And is that all because of omicron variants and subvariants?
For the most part, yes. Omicron is still the dominant strain in the United States, although BF.7 – the strain that’s reportedly giving China so much trouble – has been detected stateside.
Another omicron subvariant, XBB, is also causing problems in the Northeast part of the United States, with CDC data showing that it accounted for more than half of all new COVID cases in New England between Dec. 19 and 24. As quickly as it’s spreading, we could see that one become the dominant strain.
So should we all be wearing masks right now?
You know me well enough to know my answer to that: If you’re going to attend indoor gatherings, then yes, wear a mask, particularly if you’re not vaccinated. You should also maintain social distance and practice good hand hygiene as well.
If you’re feeling sick, stay home and away from work or family gatherings.
All that will help give you and those around you an added layer of protection not just against coronavirus – which loves the winter – but also from flu, which is still in season and which is still circulating, as well as RSV.
Even more importantly, get your flu shot and, if you still haven’t gotten the bivalent COVID booster that came out in late 2022, now’s the time for that, too. It is specifically formulated to fend off omicron, so it’ll give you the best protection we have against the current variants and subvariants.