According to the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the States may see an increase in COVID-19 infections this summer.
California COVID test positivity was 12.8% higher than regions on the East Coast. While this data shows an increase, it is not something the CDC says should necessarily alarm anyone.
On average, the States have seen an increase of COVID every summer, especially after the Fourth of July. Because cases have been at an extreme low, this increase is more like a subtle drift upwards, not necessarily a surge that should cause concern. This is also due to the public’s increased knowledge of how to now manage the virus and having immunity against it.
“Our bodies have learned how to manage the virus over the last four years, meaning that many people have had successive waves of infection, many people have had initial vaccinations,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, said. “So that combined immunity gives a big force field that can help protect us during the summer. … Although most people will be fine, there are still some people that are going to get very sick.”
Hospitalizations and deaths that are still occurring due to COVID are in large part among high-risk individuals such as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
Individuals should still take precautions around infected persons by wearing masks, avoiding close contact and thinking of getting the newest COVID vaccine, which will most likely come out in September.
“Very much in the same way that flu vaccines are tailored each year to adapt to the strains that we see, the same is occurring with COVID,” Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division at Duke University said. “And I think for someone who might be themselves or someone in their family or close contact known to be high risk I’m going to be still actively encouraging those people to get vaccinated.”
