Three years ago, most Americans had never heard of the coronavirus or were vaguely aware that a new virus was wreaking havoc in China.
This was just before the fast-spreading disease disrupted the lives of others around the world and caused more than 6 million deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Business closures, face mask mandates and virtual education imposed early in the pandemic were generally relaxed, but public fitness officials warn that now is not the time for others to let their guard down.
COVID-19 is expected to remain a serious risk in New York State and into 2023, according to the state Department of Health.
A giant percentage of the population remains with the virus and the number of citizens receiving booster shots is low, the fitness ministry said.
The branch also expects COVID-19 to continue to put pressure on fitness systems, especially with a competitive strain of influenza also spreading this season.
“We are still in a triple pandemic of influenza, COVID and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus),” said Acting Fitness Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. cause very extensive effects on our tense fitnesscare system. “
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While COVID-19 remains a threat, health care knows much more about the disease now than it did when it first hit U. S. shores. UU 3 years ago.
And they’re more prepared to deal with it,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gray, vice president of the United Health Services hospital.
“During the pandemic, there was a progression of immediate testing that allowed COVID to be identified at the point of care, which helped better manage those patients,” Gray said.
“In addition, therapies such as Paxlovid have been developed that can shorten the course of the disease if administered at the right time,” he said. “More importantly, vaccine progression has completely replaced the severity of disease that most people have, allowing us to treat other people at home. “
At this point, public health officials will need to be informed to live with COVID-19, as they did with the flu and other illnesses.
“The general expectations around COVID are that it will continue to be provided and ‘hope’ is that it will be endemic at some point,” said Lorelei Wagner, public physical education coordinator at the Steuben County Department of Public Health.
“It’s still mutating with new variants, but the question is whether those variants will be benign or worse than previous variants,” Wagner said. “Our COVID numbers have remained strong for several months. “
In the early stages of the pandemic, measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing also curbed the emergence of other communicable diseases, such as influenza.
This year, the flu virus has made a big comeback, and public health officials say this year’s strain is nasty.
“In past seasons, the most flu cases we had in November 4 cases, yet we had over six hundred cases reported in November of this year, followed by even more cases than that in the first two weeks of December,” Steuben County said. Wagner dijo. me said.
“All of those viruses have symptoms, and some other people test positive for more than one of those viruses simultaneously,” said Elizabeth Smalt, public fitness educator for communicable diseases with the Broome County Health Department.
Instead of wondering what the biggest risk is, other people also worry about protecting themselves from the flu and COVID-19, according to Dr. Brown. Lisa Esolen, Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at Guthrie.
“The flu has had a serious effect on our society and we deserve to be vaccinated against it,” Esolen said. “Right now, there are spaces that are more tense from the flu than COVID, but either is serious. “
As of Dec. 31, the state fitness branch reports a total of 278,886 flu cases in New York’s 62 counties, adding 48 outbreaks in acute and long-term care facilities.
This increase is starting to decline, but higher numbers are still a concern.
“While the downward trend in week-over-week flu cases is encouraging, we are still waiting to see the effect of recent holiday gatherings,” acting Health Commissioner McDonald said.
The newest variant is XBB. 1. 5, which according to the Department of Health now accounts for more than a portion of COVID-19 cases in New York City.
Early knowledge indicates that XBB. 1. 5 is capable of spreading faster than recently circulating variants, but there is still no evidence of whether it causes more severe disease, according to the Ministry of Health.
While maximum mask mandates have been lifted, they are still required for visitors to hospitals and other physical care facilities, and Guthrie’s Esolen does not anticipate any adjustments to those policies in the foreseeable future.
The number of reported COVID-19 cases is surfacing in some counties, but Esolen and Gray of United Health Services say this trend is translating into more hospitalizations.
“The existing trend is that COVID-related hospitalizations are stabilizing at a safe number consistent with the day,” Gray said, adding that hospitals continue to receive elderly and unvaccinated or minimally vaccinated patients admitted for COVID infections.
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Infection rates can also vary greatly from county to county.
For example, Chemung County is a low level, while Tioga and Broome counties are classified as top-level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, in northern Pennsylvania, Bradford and Susquehanna counties are the counties of highest occurrence, however, Tioga County is classified as low risk.
Health care providers are confident they are better equipped to treat COVID-19 than they were initially, but they still rely on others to do their part to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Vaccines are available and have been updated to reach efficacy with omicron, and evidence is widely available,” said Smalt of Broome County. “We know that masking, social distancing and ventilation assistance reduce exposure. “
For the latest news on COVID-19 in New York State, visit coronavirus. health. ny. gov/home. Information for Pennsylvanians is available at health. pa. gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus. . aspx.
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