With the holiday season and colder winter months approaching in the northern hemisphere, it’s COVID season. COVID, on the other hand, never truly left us.
“The holiday season, with its high volume of travel, is likely to be an additional determinant of COVID-19 transmission,” said Rajib Dasgupta, an epidemiologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India.
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JN.1, a subvariant of Omicron — one of the most common forms of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID — is now the main cause of concern.
Official statistics show that 302,100 people in Germany were infected with JN.1 as of December 20, up from 110,000 on October 20 and 195,000 on November 20.
Dasgupta stated that India is also seeing an increase in cases, particularly in the states of Kerala and Karnataka, where authorities have increased disease surveillance and are advising people to take appropriate precautions.
But it’s not just in Germany and India, according to Ziyad Al-Aly, a public health expert at Washington University in St. Louis.
“The situation is becoming more serious.” “[JN.1] appears to be taking over nearly everywhere in the world,” Al-Aly stated. “The figures in Singapore are extremely high. Cases and hospitalizations are also on the rise in the United States.”
How are COVID-19 infection rates assessed?
Because of a lack of widespread testing, true COVID-19 infection rates are likely to be higher than those reported.
Most countries stopped reporting COVID-19 test results systematically in late 2022 or early 2023, and fewer people are tested anyway. As a result, determining the true rates of COVID-19 around the world is difficult.
Wastewater surveillance is now the primary source of data for COVID-19 rates.
“It’s not an ideal method, but it’s a pretty decent indicator of how much virus is circulating around the community,” Al-Aly said.
Although wastewater surveillance cannot test individual COVID rates or identify who has it, public health experts can use this information to track viral load over time and predict a general level of risk.
Another way governments track COVID-19 is by the number of hospitalizations caused by the virus — this identifies the most severe cases.
“Tracking both wastewater and hospitalization is extremely useful.” We saw an increase in wastewater COVID a few weeks ago, followed by an increase in hospitalization rates just two weeks later. So it’s working,” Al-Aly said.
Keeping up with vaccinations is one of the most important things you can do, according to Al-Aly.
“It’s very important for people to get an updated vaccine, and also to get vaccinated for other infectious agents like flu and RSV if you qualify,” Al-Aly was quoted as saying by DW.
According to Al-Aly, the latest generation of vaccines are effective against the JN.1 subvariant.
Boosters, however, are not available everywhere in the world, according to Dasgupta: “India has discontinued the boosters.” In fact, coverage for the third booster dose has lagged far behind that of the first two.”
Wearing a mask in public places or skipping social gatherings if you are sick, according to the WHO, can help reduce the spread of the virus.
If you test positive, the first thing you should do is see if you are eligible for antiviral medication. “We know that antivirals reduce the risk of severe disease, which is hospitalization, death, and long COVID,” Al-Aly explained.
Antiviral medication is especially effective for people at high risk of severe Covid infection, such as the elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and those with heart or lung disease.
“And, obviously, you know, isolate,” Al-Aly explained. “You don’t want to send it. Don’t go to that Christmas party. Work from home or not at all. It’s the same common-sense procedures we used when we first started dealing with the pandemic].
The WHO recommends the following measures to prevent infections and severe disease:
In crowded, enclosed areas, wear a mask.
Cover your coughs and sneezes, wash your hands frequently, and stay up to date on COVID and flu vaccinations, especially if you are vulnerable. Stay home if you are sick and get tested if you have symptoms.
