United States: Doctors’ opinions state that new coronavirus mutations are more difficult to overcome than previous ones, extending the summer COVID-19 upsurge in California.
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According to Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, “It’s relentless.”
He stated that since early May, there had been a string of increases in hospitalizations and ER visits, and positives were tied to extreme heat keeping people inside and the FLiRT variants, which are very infectious and mutate quickly.
The now-dominant KP.3.1.1 variant has swiftly doubled in the United States, making up for more than a quarter of all cases, noted, CDC.
When combined with its predecessor, KP.3 contributes to about 45 percent of composite COVID-19 figures across the country.
The FLiRT variants, which refers to the fact that their spike protein has genetic modifications corresponding to obtainable addresses, are around 20 percent more contagious than the JN.1 strain that contributed to the winter spike.
They have become far more widespread at a much faster pace than the earlier viral offshoots.
As Chin-Hong said, “It’s maintaining higher infection rates than it would have with just one variant,” as San Francisco Chronicles reported.
“Typically, one variant dominates, and then infection rates decline. That isn’t happening with these variants,” he continued.
Rising cases in the US States
California is still among 19 US states that recorded wastewater virus levels at “very high.”
With a constant rise in emergency room visits, test positivity is plateauing at 13 percent from a rate of 1.8 percent at the start of summer.
According to Eric Topol, the director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a leading COVID-19 commentator, “No matter how you look at it, this is not a benign wave,” as San Francisco Chronicles reported.
“The slope of rise of SARS-CoV-2 levels is still steep, so we haven’t yet reached the plateau,” he continued.
He added that the current wave has already surpassed four prior pandemic peaks.
The COVID-19 situation in the Bay Area has worsened to the extent that residents are finding it hard to get tested for the virus in pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens.
Even those seeking the vaccines for the updated Fall shots are likely to experience some troubles.
Chin-Hong highlighted the fact that more Novids, or people who did not contract the virus for years, are being hospitalized. “It highlights the high transmissibility of these new variants,” he said, although he noted no indication that the symptoms are worse than in previous waves.