While Pennsylvania Department of Health the data indicates that COVID-19[feminine] Case numbers are low statewide, local medical professionals say that’s not really the case. However, they don’t care either.
By early December, Pennsylvania was averaging far fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, according to public state data. Considering the season and the trends of the last couple of years, that would be great news.
However, more than two and a half years into the pandemic, people have the virus and its infection fairly well under control – well enough that public data doesn’t tell much of the story.
Consider your own reaction if you’ve had an episode of COVID-19 recently or were to catch it in the near future: you probably know the signs and probably have a test at home, so you won’t get a PCR test . And since nearly three-quarters of Pennsylvanians are vaccinated against the virus, your symptoms may be mild and unworthy of a trip to the doctor to get one of the available treatments like Paxlovid.
So unlike the early months of the pandemic, and even during the harsh winter of last year, someone who contracts COVID-19 is far less likely to do anything that would add their case to the department’s growing tally. of health.
“We know what’s being reported is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, chief infectious disease officer emeritus at St. Luke’s University Health Network. “For every known case, the estimate is probably 10 or 12 times that.”
This The reporting anomaly is not new by all means, but as has been the case for the past two years, COVID-related winters can lead to large increases in hospitalization rates and reported deaths, so logic would dictate that a deceptively high rate of transmission high should also mean a large increase in the other two digits.
However, that has not been the case, and that is why health officials are feeling rather optimistic as the cold weather sets in.
Jahre said between St. Luke’s 11 campuses, the number of hospitalized patients has fluctuated between the mid-to-60s over the past two weeks. This time last year, that figure was several hundred patients higher. At the same time, a few months ago, this figure was in the 20s. The number of deaths caused by COVID-19 is experiencing a similar trend.
“We know there is an increase in hospitalizations,” Jahre said. And we are seeing a slight increase in deaths. But that’s a fraction of what we saw a year or two ago.
This has been the catch on the current strains of the virus circulating. Subvariants of the Omicron variant, the two most important of which are called BA.4 and BA.5, tend to spread quickly and easily, but with less severe effects on those infected.
According to Dr. Alex Benjamin, head of infection control and prevention at Lehigh Valley Health Network, hospitals in the network currently have more patients hospitalized with influenza than with COVID-19. It should be noted that the country is experiencing a large wave of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) casesin addition to COVID-19 and an uptick in seasonal colds, resulting in what Jahre calls a “quademic.”
Even for more severe COVID-19 cases, hospitals are better prepared. “We have more experience and are better suited to treating people,” Benjamin said. “We have outpatient therapies to avoid people needing to go to hospital.”
So while case counts used to be an important statistic to gauge the spread of COVID-19, they have become a bit of a red herring devoid of context. And at this point, medical professionals are only focusing on hospitalization and death data that is truly quantifiable.
Of course, while it’s good that these numbers are down from previous years, there’s still a way to prevent these numbers even further, and it’s a drum that both health networks have been beating for nearly two years. : vaccines.
While nearly 75% of Pennsylvania has a full set of two COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disaster Control and PreventionAccording to vaccine data, the currently available booster, a bivalent booster that specifically combats the omicron variant, has only been given to about 15% of Pennsylvanians despite wide availability. The original booster doses weren’t exactly flying off the shelves either.
Both Benjamin and Jahre acknowledge that the booster dose’s lack of popularity can be attributed to both misinformation and fatigue. Jahre said there are people who think, and still think, that if the vaccine only reduces the likelihood of a milder infection instead of fully protecting against any possible COVID-19 infection, then it’s is unnecessary. He combats this notion by pointing out that people with a full vaccination and at least one booster dose are 15 times less likely to die from COVID-19.
There is also, as the two doctors point out, a general fatigue among the population to get more vaccines and the prospect of continuing this cycle. “There’s less enthusiasm to get vaccinated,” Benjamin said.
“Yeah, there’s COVID fatigue,” Jahre said, “but don’t let COVID fatigue get in the way of you doing the right thing.”
Individuals can find schedules and clinics for COVID-19 vaccines and reminders online at sluhn.org or lvhn.orgor through pharmacies like CVS or Walgreens.
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Connor Lagore can be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.
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