The rise is due to BA.2, a subtype of Omicron that is more contagious than its BA.1 sibling, which was responsible for about 86% of new Covid-19 cases nationwide last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control. US Control and Prevention (CDC). With precautions loosened in many places earlier this year, experts are considering whether BA.2 will lead to another increase. “That’s what the beginning of growth was like in the past,” said Julia Ryfman, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health. The increase in cases is expected to lead to breaks in school and work as more and more people get sick. The United States is now at a “key point for action,” Rifman said. “If we take decisive action to reduce transmission, then we will reduce the increase in cases; and if we do not, then we are really letting the virus decide what happens next.” Cases in the US remain relatively low and rates continue to fall in several parts of the country. However, the US as a whole is seeing an upward trend in numbers, with an average of 30,000 people coming out positive in the US each day, compared to about 26,000 last week, according to the CDC. Washington, where Mayor Muriel Bowser and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi each said they were infected with Covid last week, has one of the highest two-week average increases. Rhode Island, Maryland, Kansas, Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York saw more than 60% increase. Philadelphia was the first city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate Monday in a bid to stem the rise in hospitalization, which according to a University of Pennsylvania model could increase in the coming weeks. The city will also add requirements for demonstration of vaccination proofs if cases continue to rise. The White House renewed its mandate for public transport masks for another two weeks on Wednesday. Several universities in the US, including Columbia, American, Georgetown, George Washington, Johns Hopkins and Rice, are also returning to serve on campus. However, US hospitalizations for Covid are at record lows, with 74% of hospital beds currently used for all causes nationwide. However, hospitalizations can be an indicator of delay, so it is not yet clear whether BA.2 will hit the health system hard. Deaths remain constant at just over 500 every day. Doctors hope that access to treatments, including monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs for those most vulnerable, can halt the rise in Covid-related illness and death. But federal funding for these drugs is running out, with no new deal yet. For example, only 1.5 million of Paxlovid’s 10 million planned stadiums have been delivered to states and territories. Hospitalization and death are not the only serious consequences – long Covid is also a real concern, Raifman said. The official number of cases is also affected by the prevalence of home tests and the lack of affordable exams for those without insurance, he added. “We are really going back to our answer, even though the virus stays with us.”
