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This story comes from ICT in partnership with MPR News.
Across much of the country, experts are concerned that emerging COVID-19 infections this summer portend a further surge in the virus as temperatures drop.
“We are in the midst of an immediate spate of covid cases in Indian country,” said Dean Seneca, who identifies himself as Seneca. He is the founder and CEO of Seneca Scientific Solutions, a public fitness and urban and regional planning company.
“We have noticed a slow accumulation of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of May and the end of April,” he said. According to Seneca, infections seem to stabilize or even minimize before skyrocketing from mid-June.
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However, serious cases are rare.
This year’s summer increase is about two months earlier than last year. In 2023, the country experienced a surge in severe infections in early July that continued through September, according to hospitalization data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Indian Health Service medical director Dr. Loretta Christensen of Diné told ICT in an email: “Although the number of cases is increasing, rates of severe illness remain low. “
It also named Albuquerque, Billings, Montana, Oklahoma and Portland, Oregon, as places of notable accumulation of infections, as known to the IHS as of Aug. 7. Hawaii and Minnesota are also seeing a surge in infections.
If trends follow the same trajectory as 2023, the United States will most likely see coronavirus infections continue to accumulate and decline ahead of a winter surge beginning in November.
“We are learning even more about the seasonality of COVID-19 infections. And I think a lot of that on and is driven through the emergence of new variants,” Dr. Laura Hammitt said. She is the Infectious Disease Program Manager at the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health.
The current wave of coronavirus is basically governed by the KP. 3. 1. 1 variant, which took control in early August. While viral mutations make viruses more infectious and less deadly, there are fears that COVID-19 mutations may not necessarily adhere to trends.
A 2023 study found that COVID-19 transmissibility and lethality increased between 2020 and 2022. It suggests that people be prepared for more variants, better proportioned to evade human immune responses.
Hammit says the first thing Americans can do for themselves and those around them is to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. She says the belief of a low risk of infection is one of the many barriers public fitness experts face, in addition to increasingly scarce resources, such as access to COVID-19 self-tests and vaccines.
“This relief of resources means that it is much more complicated to organize the type of outreach events that were imperative to increase vaccination coverage, as well as raise awareness in remote or rural tribal communities,” Hammitt said.
Despite high vaccination rates at the start of the pandemic, tribal communities have been left behind. Many tribal nations and health care providers have shifted the focus of COVID-19 to preventive and chronic disease treatment facilities, according to Will Funmaker, Ho-Chunk, director of the Great Lakes Center for Intertribal Epidemiology.
Vaccination rates among adult American Indians and Alaska Natives are the lowest of any ethnic group on record, according to the CDC. The center estimates that just under 70 per cent of Indigenous adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 79% of Native Hawaiian adults have received at least one vaccine, compared to a national average of about 81%.
Hammitt says one reason other people might be discouraged from getting the vaccine is its effectiveness. “I hear other people say… they got a vaccine and they still ended up getting COVID after getting vaccinated.
He warns that while vaccines can prevent infections, the most important reason to stay up to date on vaccines is to reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, or even death. “And it also decreases the risk of long COVID. “She said.
For Native Americans, the threat of serious illness is a fear due to the prevalence of pre-existing conditions such as cancer and diabetes, according to Seneca. He says long COVID is a serious fear in Indian territory.
“What concerns me is the issues with long COVID, because it’s a little unknown right now and its effect on our communities,” he said.
What is known is the effectiveness of the vaccines and other precautions such as wearing a mask and social distancing. Currently, the course of action against long COVID is to take precautionary measures.
Christensen said in an email, “[IHS] recommends that others remain vigilant and get tested when they have symptoms consistent with COVID. Recommendations include staying up to date on vaccinations, practicing smart hygiene (covering coughs/sneezes and washing hands), and ventilation in indoor spaces.
He added that some IHS clinics have reinstated mask wearing in reaction to increased hospitalizations, and that “all tests and remedies can still be performed in physical care settings. “