Covid hospitalizations jumped 20% in the week after Christmas, according to new insights from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with Covid deaths and flu hospitalizations and deaths, cementing what experts predicted would be a “severe” season for respiratory illnesses as Americans traveled and stockpiled for holiday celebrations.
There were 34,798 Covid-related hospitalizations the holiday week ending Dec. 30, 2023, up 20. 4% from last week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Covid-related deaths were up 12.5% during this period, with the highest concentrations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Missouri and Oklahoma.
The new Omicron Covid JN. 1 variant accounted for 61. 6% of all Covid cases in the two weeks between December 24, 2023 and January 6, up 22. 8% from the previous two weeks.
There were 39 states with high or very high levels for respiratory illness, including Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus—this is up from 34 states the previous week.
Flu cases increased 17. 5% and there were 20,066 flu-related hospitalizations, more than 5% more than last week, according to the CDC.
Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles warned in November 2023 that experts were preparing for an intense triple-demic holiday season. “This will be a serious respiratory virus season,” the associate director of epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai Hospital said in a statement. Tripledemic is a simultaneous accumulation of Covid, influenza and RSV cases, often peaking each year during the winter. Due to an increase in hospitalizations similar to respiratory illnesses, several fitness formulas across the country have reinstated the mask requirement. New York City healthcare facilities began requiring masks for all patients, visitors and employees earlier this week. After the Illinois Department of Public Health urged hospitals to step up their mitigation efforts in December, several hospitals reinstated mask mandates, including Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Cook County Health and Endeavor Health. The Berkshire, Massachusetts exercise program began requiring masks on Wednesday, leading to a “significant increase” in local respiratory cases. After Los Angeles County hit the median for Covid hospitalizations last month, the county required masks in all of its hospitals.
New Covid variant JN.1 has been driving an increase in Covid cases across the country as it’s been rapidly spreading. JN.1 only made up 3.3% of all Covid cases during the two-week period ending in Nov. 11, 2023, so it’s grown by almost 60% in a little over two months. The World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of interest” in December 2023, meaning it’s spreading in a way that may pose “an emerging risk to global public health.” JN.1 is an offshoot of the highly mutated Pirola (BA.2.86) strain that was spreading rapidly last fall. Some healthcare experts worried Pirola wouldn’t be protected against the updated monovalent Covid vaccines since they specifically target XBB variants. However, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech said their shots provided some protection. Because of how rapidly JN.1 spread, the CDC said it was the “fastest growing variant in the United States.” WHO also acknowledged JN.1’s growth, stating it made up the majority of all BA.2.86 subvariants circulating globally, though available evidence suggested it posed a low risk to public health.
Here’s Where Mask Mandates Are Making a Comeback as Covid Cases and Hospitalizations Rise (Forbes)
Preparing for a ‘Tripledemic’ Holiday Season (Cedars-Sinai)
JN. 1 Covid ‘variant of interest’ is spreading in the U. S. U. S. Airline: Here’s What You Want to Know (Forbes)
What to Know About the Fast-Spreading BA. 2. 86 Covid “Pirola” Variant and Whether Vaccines Will Offer Coverage (Forbes)