THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY - June 25, 2022:
Overall this week was better than last week. This wave may be leveling; sub variants need watching as they may evade people's natural or vaccinated defenses. Cases seem to be less severe but multiple re-infections seem to be happening. Key data for Luna, Hidalgo, Catron, Sierra, and Dona added towards the end of this report.
OUR LOCAL GEOGRAPHIC AREA:
Grant County did better; cases fell [page 15]; workplace cases improved [page 18, 19]. GRMC Covid admissions were 0 [page 22]; recent covid-like ED visits fell [page 23, 26]. Silver City, Bayard, and Hurley cases mostly improved [page 16, 17]. Grant County had 0 deaths [page 14]. While cases are less severe, covid variants are significant so caution is advised.
OUR STATE:
NM statistics are mostly leveling [page 12, 13]. Positivity improved but hospital beds rose [page 12, 13]. Omicron subvariants increased. [page 37]. NM case doubling times are not an issue [page 5, 6]
NEIGHBORING STATES:
AZ statistics are mostly leveling, CO cases fell, covid beds may be leveling, TX cases, positivity, and covid beds all rose. AZ, CO, and TX details are: [page 8, 9, 10].
NATIONALLY:
New cases may be leveling but hospitalizations gently rose [page 7]. Cases are probably in a gentle wave which sub variants may be prolonging.
HOSPITALS:
US admissions 7 day average rose from 3013 (5/15) to 4005 (6/18) (CDC) [page 28].
NOTE: 6/24/22 [page 27] COVID inpatient beds increased most of the time in TX and NM.
VARIANT GROWTH:
Omicron BA.2 subvariant BA.2.12.1 has grown in AZ, CO, TX, and NM [page 37], and the even more contagious BA.4 and BA.5 [page 37] are rising, which may also prolong this wave. While contagion is high, cases are more manageable for most people.
SOMEWHAT RECENT NEWS:
06/22/22: Moderna's new vaccine for the fall fights original COVID-19 and omicron BA.4 & BA.5
https://www.yahoo.com/news/moderna-says-bivalent-vaccine-appears-155451664.html
06/17/22: Several factors may affect case rates by vaccination and booster status making interpretation of recent trends difficult. Limitations include higher prevalence of previous infection among the unvaccinated and un-boosted groups; difficulty accounting for time since vaccination and waning protection; possible differences in testing practices (such as at-home tests), and prevention behaviors by age and vaccination status. [data points are old, update is current]
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#rates-by-vaccine-status?ftag=YHF4eb9d17
06/14/22: UK anticipating a new wave driven by BA.4 and BA.5
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-start-covid-wave-driven-150004535.html
06/11/22: Immunity gained during last omicron wave is fading, so subvariants rise. Many Americans aren't taking Covid precautions anymore, assuming they won't get sick. [Dr. David Dowdy, associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins]
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/11/this-covid-wave-might-be-the-start-of-our-new-normal-experts-say.html?__source=androidappshare
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-care/clinical-considerations-reinfection.html