Even though numbers have dropped significantly since the early days of the pandemic, COVID cases have increased in western Pennsylvania.
In Allegheny County, reported cases were increasing since June 9, when 132 cases were reported. The period ending June saw a total of 218 cases in the county – which may be the tip of the iceberg, as most cases are tested at home and are not always reported.
In line with the situation, COVID-related emergency room visits are still within the lowest period, but increased 22% for the period ending July 6, according to CDC data. It appears that Westmoreland County case numbers are not available because the county no longer has a state branch.
Professional CDC protocols for COVID-19 revised this era. People are formally cleared to return to work or college if they have been fever-free for twenty-four hours without any improvement, and if their symptoms are mild and improving. The CDC also recommends wearing a mask and maintaining distance from people for five days to prevent the spread of the virus.
Finding out if you have COVID helps you avoid contact with people who are at increased risk, said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief medical officer of health.
“We know that COVID is a very dangerous infection for people who are at extremes of age, especially the elderly, and for people whose underlying immune systems do not work well or (who) There are underlying conditions,” he said. “It’s important (to know) so you can modify your behavior, whether it’s staying away from people or wearing a mask.”
Dr. Amy Crawford-Faucher, public health practitioner and vice president of Number One Aid, said many state aid officials are still following strict COVID protocols, including staying at home and wearing a mask for the next five days. Institute in AHN.
“This means minimizing contact with people you live with and staying away from work and other social gatherings for five days,” she said. “Basically, stay away from people until you feel better. If you live or run around high-risk people, the most effective thing to do to restrict spread is to wear a mask and minimize touching.
“For the general public this may be excessive, but, certainly, in health care it makes sense that we are being more careful.”
How easy is it to check?
If you are feeling symptoms then it is a good suggestion to get a quick Covid test done at home. Doctors advise that tests are not perfect, so more than one test over a few days is preferred.
“If you are symptomatic and your test comes back negative, you should repeat that test in 48 hours, because it may be that there was not enough virus in your nose when you were tested the first time,” said Dr. . Carol Fox, renowned clinical officer for Liberty Fitness Machine.
Yealy said tests can sometimes show favorable results, as long as you are not infectious.
“The advantage of them is that they are readily available and can give you great information about what to do next,” Yealy noted. “A good test that is readily available is sometimes more helpful to a broader population than a difficult test.”
If you can’t decide when your symptoms started, you’ll value the time you tested positive, Crawford-Foucher said.
“No matter what you have, if it’s a respiratory illness, (it’s) going to be contagious,” she said. “The thing to remember for your loved ones and people you work with is to minimize contact if you’re feeling sick.”
Pittsburgh-based Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Fitness Safety, said home tests are still useful for new COVID variants. It’s easiest to value an ancient test, but an expired test showing favorable results is still a good indication of having COVID. He said that the negative consequences of fraud are far more likely than the positive aspects of fraud.
“This variant has no impact on whether the test is positive or negative,” he clarified. “Home tests are useful for people who want to know their status and those who want to connect with drugs like paxlovid.”
Testing – whether with a home test or a PCR test from a pharmacy or doctor – may also be worth considering if someone is at increased risk and is eligible for paxlovid treatment, which slows the replication of the virus for you. gives. frame.
Crawford-Faucher said alternative factors that make someone a candidate for Paxlovid include being obese, being over the age of 50, having a disability, and having a persistent problem, though length of time can also be a big factor in who will enjoy it.
“If someone is 80, I would recommend them to take Paxlovid. We know the data from that group is very good in terms of preventing hospitalizations and deaths,” she said. “If you’re 55 and healthy and have a mild case, I think it’s a matter of personal preference.”
It is easy to understand what are the effects or dangers of repeated infection, and what makes a person more likely to get infected more than once compared to someone who never gets infected. Has happened.
“There is still a lot that is not known about the risks of developing long Covid, except that we know that never getting vaccinated increases the risk of long Covid,” Crawford-Foucher noted. “We’re still learning a lot about this virus in terms of why some people are at risk for reinfection and others are not.”
inoculate or promote
The CDC advised on June 27 that people get an updated COVID vaccine this fall. The company said the vaccines will be available from Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer.
Crawford-Faucher noted that most people at this stage have had COVID at least once, received some form of vaccination, or both. Updating the vaccine to screen for shingles variants provides supplemental coverage.
“The role of vaccines has always been to reduce the risk of serious infection and death,” Crawford-Faucher said. “People are still dying from Covid. “Not with the numbers we saw in 2021, but it is still happening.”
Vaccination may not ban all infections, but it is certainly helping to make infections less unpleasant.
“This is not a force field to protect you from any exposure to the virus,” Yealy said. “It just means that when you come into contact, you’ll put up a better fight.”
Adalja said, some people may have got Covid without knowing it.
“Some people may have very mild disease and not even know it, and some people may have no symptoms at all,” he said. “You only know if they’ve been exposed to the virus by looking at specific antibodies, and most people don’t get these tests.”
People are still sometimes entering the hospital with COVID, Fox said.
“When people come in and come in for things, we ask them if they have respiratory symptoms. …If they say they do, we want to isolate them from other individuals,” he said. “We don’t routinely test, but if people have respiratory symptoms, if you present to the emergency department with respiratory symptoms, COVID is part of the differential diagnosis.”
Julia Maruka is a TribeLive reporter covering the situation and protecting Greensburg and Hempfield parks. She joined the Tribe in 2022, guarding southwestern Butler County on the Butler Eagle. He can also be reached at jmaruca@triblive.com.
