COVID brief 7/6/24

I wasn't going to post this week, but COVID is surging, so I wanted to share some data without a research summary. SARS-CoV-2 levels are quite high in many places in the United States now. I would definitely recommend wearing a good fitting N95 or KN95 mask on airplane flights and public transportation now. 

Have a good rest of your weekend,

Ruth Ann Crystal MD

COVID news notes:

US Variant tracker: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions

Variant estimates through 7/6/24. Variants reported every 2 weeks now.

Over the last 4 weeks:

• KP.3 went from 17% to 24.5% to 31.3% to 36.9%

• KP.2 went from 19.4% to 21.5% to 24.3% to 24.4%

• LB.1 went from 8.0% to 10% to 13% to 14.9%

CDC COVID data tracker: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/index.html#datatracker-home

• Hospitalizations are only being reported by a few states now.

Walgreens positivity rate: https://www.walgreens.com/businesssolutions/covid-19-index.jsp

Last updated 7/1/24

US Wastewater Monitoring:

CDC wastewater reporting (NWSS): https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-nationaltrend.html

• Data last updated 6/27/24

• Why does it say LOW when WastewaterSCAN and others say that wastewater SARS-2 levels are HIGH?

  

CDC wastewater map: https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-currentlevels.html

Last updated 6/27/24

Sara Anne Willette has a treasure trove of data on her website iowacovid19tracker.org

National SARS-CoV-2 data from Sara Anne Willette: https://iowacovid19tracker.org/

"NWSS has not updated their concentration dataset since 6/25/24. This page will not update until their dataset is brought back fully online. Please utilize WastewaterSCAN and CDC viral activity level pages for local/state risk levels."

Wastewater SCAN data as of July 1, 2024 from Sara Anne Willette’s dashboard

California: 

• VERY HIGH levels (purple) in Sunnyvale and in Sacramento

• HIGH levels in Davis, Napa (Soscol), San Mateo (Calera Creek)

• SUBSTANTIAL in Marin, Modesto, Merced (Los Banos), Lompoc (Santa Barbara Co.)

Florida and surrounding areas

Northeast

Texas and nearby states

Hospitalizations as of 6/29/24 by states still reporting. On Sara Anne Willette’s dashboard.

Wastewater SCAN: https://data.wastewaterscan.org/

Highest wastewater SARS-CoV-2 levels now:

Highest SARS-2 viral levels in the United States:

Montpelier VT 2391 PMMoV

E Orange Co, FL 2185

W Bk New Orleans, LA 2142

Anchorage AK 1848

Key Biscayne FL 1800

Tallahassee FL 1747

SW St Petersburg 1624

Warren, MI 1590

N. Miami, FL 1408

Woodlands, TX 1249

Honolulu, HI 991 to 1210

NE St Petersburg 1189

Novato CA 1108

Akron OH 1078

Boston MA 970

Las Vegas NV 938

Ocean San Francisco 911

SE San Francisco 876

Santa Clara County:

Gilroy CA 492

Sunnyvale CA 462

California statewide view https://buff.ly/3YObiul

Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network (SCAN) project by Stanford University: 

• San Jose, Sunnyvale, Oceanside San Francisco and SE San Francisco have all surpassed levels in the December 2023 wave.

Santa Clara County wastewater: https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-wastewater

Marin county: https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/surveillance

JP Weiland: https://twitter.com/JPWeiland

July 5, 2024 https://x.com/JPWeiland/status/1809311441171661303

https://x.com/JPWeiland/status/1809290480330359158

CDC Forecasting of expected EPIDEMIC GROWTH of SARS-CoV-2: https://www.cdc.gov/forecast-outbreak-analytics/about/rt-estimates.html

“As of July 02, 2024, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 39 states and territories, declining or likely declining in 0 states and territories, and are stable or uncertain in 10 states and territories.”

Puerto Rico

6/30/24 https://x.com/CoronaHeadsUp/status/1807531422611128509

According to Univision

• 6/25/24 Univision: Puerto Rico registers an unusual increase in Covid-19 cases: it reaches figures not reported since 2020 https://buff.ly/4cGzUeb

  • "The positivity rate of Covid-19 infections exceeded 40 percent [in Puerto Rico] in recent days and there was also an increase in new cases per day and hospitalizations."

6/30/24 Federico Gueli @siamosolocani

There are two local variants there LZ.1 and LZ.1.1 But also the fastest on earth KP.3.1.1 is already transmitting there.

6/30/24 @midnucas   https://x.com/midnucas/status/1807595740988072116

“There is no need to cite meaningless positive rate metrics for Puerto Rico, where the Department of Health has never stopped producing actual case counts. Cases have been averaging about 2,500/day, which is >2x taller than e.g. the Alpha or Delta waves.”

Puerto Rico COVID-19 dashboard: https://covid-19-puerto-rico.org/2024-06-29/index.html

7/1/24 Irish Star: Irish hospital issues full visitor ban as Covid-19 infections jump 60% https://buff.ly/4br4qrt

7/1/24 University Hospitals of North Midlands in the NHS has reinstated face mask requirements because of increase in COVID-19, flu and other respiratory conditions https://x.com/UHNM_NHS/status/1807777840827338792

7/4/24 Lucky Tran https://x.com/luckytran/status/1808903219671663053

The CDC has finally acknowledged that SARS-CoV-2 is not a typical “winter” respiratory virus, and COVID-19 is a threat that can surge throughout the year.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-can-surge-throughout-the-year.html

Lucky Tran continued

However, the CDC continues to go out of its way to stigmatize masks, not listing it in its core prevention strategies for respiratory viruses, and calling it an “additional” prevention strategy instead.

Image below from the CDC was “fixed” by Lucky Tran: