THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY - July 16, 2022:
This flat wave keeps oscillating. Prolonging factors are: sub variants change to evade people's natural or vaccinated defenses, sub variants are far more contagious, and people seem less cautious. Cases seem more manageable but people can get re-infected multiple times. The longer a wave continues, the more chance there may be for even more sub variants. Fatalities seem to be rising [page 7, 29].
OUR LOCAL GEOGRAPHIC AREA:
Grant County cases are oscillating [page 15]; workplace cases are concerning [page 18, 19]. Recent GRMC Covid admissions were stable [page 22]; with earlier covid-like ED visits bouncing around [page 23, 26]. Silver City, Bayard, and Hurley cases are oscillating [page 16, 17]. Grant County had 1 death [page 14]. Covid variants are significant so caution is advised.
OUR STATE:
NM back to delineating by sub variants. NM positivity and hospital beds were oscillating [page 12, 13], while workplace reports seemed to be leveling. Omicron sub variants increased [page 37]. NM case doubling times are not an issue [page 5, 6]. NM deaths rose [page 12, 14].
NEIGHBORING STATES:
AZ cases fell, beds rose. CO cases oscillate aggravated by older located cases being added to recent counts, covid beds rose. TX cases, positivity, and covid beds continued to rise. Refer to [page 8, 9, 10].
NATIONALLY:
New cases, positivity, and hospitalizations rose [page 7]. Deaths and deaths per case rose [page 7, 29]. Cases are in a gentle wave, the longer a wave lasts the more chance there exists for new sub variants, and changing sub variants prolonging it, anecdotally aggravated by less covid precautions.
HOSPITALS:
US admissions 7 day average 3685 (6/04), 5619 (7/10) (CDC) [page 28]
COVID like ED visits: Grant County and Luna were stable, But Sierra rose [page 23, 41, 43]
COVID inpatient beds increased in AZ, CO & TX; NM seem stable
VARIANT GROWTH:
In AZ, CO, NM, and TX the BA.4 and BA.5 [page 37] rose, which may also prolong this wave. The longer a wave, the more chance there is for more mutations. New sub variant BA.2.75 is on the horizon.
SOMEWHAT RECENT NEWS:
07/15/22: The BA.5 omicron subvariant now the most prevalent in the United States, is four times more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines. Unvaccinated people have a five times higher chance of contracting the virus than those who are vaccinated and boosted, chances of hospitalization are 7.5 times higher, and chances of death are 14 to 15 times higher, said Dr. Gregory Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.
07/13/22: The Novavax shot is the fourth Covid shot to earn FDA clearance in the U.S. and the first to use protein technology — a decades-old method of virus-fighting used in multiple routine vaccinations, like those against hepatitis B and shingles.
06/11/22: Many Americans aren't taking Covid precautions anymore, assuming they won't get sick. [Dr. David Dowdy, associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins]