U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are Leveling Off, Following Spring Surge

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

After a rise in known infections this spring, new coronavirus cases in the United States have leveled off in recent weeks, even as hospitalizations continue to inch upward and new Omicron subvariants rapidly circulate.

The country is recording just over 105,000 new coronavirus cases a day, on average, a rate that has more or less held steady over the last month, according to a New York Times database.

That figure is sure to be an undercount, as more people have turned to at-home testing, the results of which often go unreported. But other indicators are also showing signs of steadying: The number of patients hospitalized with the virus is still growing, but doing so slowly, with the average hovering for most of this week around 29,000. Deaths have stayed below 400 a day for several weeks.

With key indicators far below their Omicron winter peaks, longstanding public health orders continue to be lifted. In one sign of recent change, travelers flying to the United States no longer need to provide a negative test result. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explained the decision last week in part by pointing to booster shots and how Omicron had “generally caused less severe disease among those who are infected.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/u-s-coronavirus-cases-are-leveling-off-following-spring-surge/ar-AAYuz4j

[roamer65]

1. They will surge in the fall.

This virus is far from giving up.

[BannonsLiver]

2. This runs counter to the doomy narrative currently being pushed by some

[Johnny2X2X]

4. I don't get those people too

Exercise caution? Absolutely! But not acknowledging that Covid is no longer close to the threat it once was is just living in doomsayer land.

Get vaccinated! Get Boosted! 2/3s of the country is fully vaxxed, but only 31% have gotten boosters. Wear a N or KN 95 mask in crowds! All things you can do to protect yourself and others, but it seems some just clamor for doom. Covid is not a significant disruption to normal life in the US right now, and it's trending towards being less and less a disruptive over time.

I knew some people would have trouble letting go of the fear and alarm. I think it's because we are all a little traumatized over what happened. Over 1 million dead Americans is just hard to fathom and process. But we're at the levels of daily deaths in a normal flu season right now, and the vast majority of those people are unvaccinated.

[Ace Rothstein]

5. Some people also made covid precautions part of their personality for political reasons.

Last edited Wed Jun 15, 2022, 06:45 PM - Edit history (1)

They'll have a difficult time letting go what they've been preaching for two years.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. Re: masking

If there's one good thing that comes of this, I hope we see more masking during regular flu seasons. Masking is such a small inconvenience and makes a big difference. But mask mandates are gone for good.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. The Common Cold Is Way Down, Too

Masking obviously helped & all that surface disinfection made a difference.
Colds are spread by surface transmission way more than COVID.
All that said, this winter i caught my first cold in several years.

[BlackSkimmer]

14. It does, doesn't it?

Confusing around here lately.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. InB4 Long Covid comments

This pandemic is not over, but it has definitely changed, the disease is no longer as dangerous, that's just a fact. And we are better at treating it and now have better options to treat it.

Long Covid is not fully understood, but there is some data on it:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html

Estimates of the proportion of people who had COVID-19 that go on to experience post-COVID conditions can vary:

13.3% at one month or longer after infection
2.5% at three months or longer, based on self-reporting
More than 30% at 6 months among patients who were hospitalized

And the vast majority of long Covid cases eventually resolve themselves. Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent long Covid. And yes, Long Flu exists too, but not as often as Long Covid does. I think we need to learn more about Long Covid, but if you didn't get severe Covid, the risks seem pretty mild.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

16. I think the notion that people are recovering from ME/CFS-like Long Covid

is fanciful and will prove to be false. And very costly to society, while individual ruining lives.

I believe the CDC has a problem of poorly designated cohorts and is lumping everyone who has lingering illness after getting Covid as a monolithic group.

People with ME/CFS never recover. I suspect the same will be true of those people with Long Covid who have all the hallmarks of ME/CFS, especially PEM (post-exertional malaise).

Long Covid (ME/CFS) is happening after "mild" bouts of Covid.

I think public health is making a huge mistake with the vaccinate but otherwise let it rip strategy.

[herding cats]

6. Following the trend of South Africa

The BA.4 and BA.5 strains of omicron weren't nearly as impactful there either, which is great news. A small wave which has now dissipated back to pre-surge levels.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/south-africa

[AZSkiffyGeek]

8. I've been following Arizona's cases

Weekly cases seem to be plateauing or even slightly dropping. Still around 14K a week though.
Weekly deaths are in low double digits and decreasing.

[StarryNite]

9. 16,334 new cases reported since last week here in AZ

So we're still trending up.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

13. That's total reported cases - you need to dig into their charts for the "cases this week"

It's screwy the way they report the numbers - but the 16334 total includes revisions to older weeks (I think they were mostly to last weeks' numbers). This week's total was only 14892, down from 14917 last week.
I'm cautiously optimistic that this surge is not panning out as badly as some predicted.

Here is the link I use...
https://www.azdhs.gov/covid19/data/index.php#confirmed-by-week

[ProfessorGAC]

10. The Graphs For The US & Illinois...

...look nearly identical in shape. Only the y axis is different.
Peaked about 10 days ago then plateaued a few days & started trending down slightly.

[choie]

12. Do people get that most people

who test positive via a home test aren't included in these numbers? Hello?

[BlackSkimmer]

15. And how many don't even bother to test?

Many are back to the old ball game of “hey, I don’t feel good, let me go to bed for a couple days.”

[Just A Box Of Rain]

17. Corect. I'm convinced that's skewing the numbers significantly.