For now, weekly coronavirus cases remain flat nationally and in California, and are still declining in Los Angeles County. But the data could be a prelude to what's to come.
But there are also a number of countries in Europe and elsewhere that offer hope for the U.S. and California to avoid a severe surge.
“It’s not all as bad as you think,” said Dr. George Rutherford, a UC San Francisco epidemiologist, who is optimistic that BA.2 will spare California from a difficult surge. Kim-Farley said he also expected weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths to continue falling, as more anti-COVID drugs become more plentiful, such as Paxlovid.
It’s still important that people who have had prior infection get vaccinated and boosted because the strength and duration of natural immunity appears to be less than through vaccinations, including the booster doses, as appropriate, Kim-Farley said. The numbers of deaths are so high in Hong Kong that funeral homes and hospitals aren’t able to store bodies, Chau said. That’s an echo of the kind of scenario Southern California faced during its first winter surge, before vaccines were widely available.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The omicron variant BA.2 is making inroads across U.S., but Houston data tells a different story for nowAn omicron subvariant known as BA.2 is driving up COVID case numbers in the United Kingdom, sparking worry of another surge in the United States.
Read more »
What We Know About The New Omicron Subvariant BA.2 Spreading Around The WorldA new Omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19, BA.2, is quickly becoming the predominant source of infections amid rising cases around the world.
Read more »
Omicron's 'stealth' subvariant BA.2 could go 'wild' in Europe before going global, top epidemiologist saysThe rise in cases across the continent is being driven by several causes including the spread of the omicron subvariant, BA.2.
Read more »
Here's what Europe's omicron BA.2 COVID surge means for the Bay Area'I think it's inevitable in the year timeframe...I think we should be prepared for this to be a winter time disease like influenza that we see every winter.'
Read more »
Rise in Omicron subvariant BA.2 cases coinciding with beginning of allergy seasonIs it COVID or is it allergies? CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez explains why you shouldn't wait to find out...
Read more »
Omicron BA.2 Variant Represents Rising Share of U.S. Covid-19 CasesAn easily transmitted version of the Omicron coronavirus variant known as BA.2 represents a growing share of Covid-19 cases in the U.S., including a majority in parts of the Northeast, new federal estimates show
Read more »