COVID-19 Community Newsletter for August 11, 2022

Weekly News From Los Alamos County

August 11, 2022

Inside this newsletter, you will find...

The Epidemiology Corner - COVID-19 Update, Updated CDC Guidance, Treatment Information, Treating Symptoms, Survey & Results, COVID-19 data, and more.

COVID-19 Update: Community Transmision and Emergency Department Visits Still Remain Comparatively High in the County...

Nationwide Hospitalizations Likely Peaked as BA.5 Predominates and BA.4.6 Continues Emerging

For the week ending August 6, CDC estimates that Omicron variants BA.4/BA.5 accounted for 94% of U.S. cases nationwide, with BA.5 alone accounting for 87% of cases. The newest emergent variant, BA.4.6 increased in prevalence over the past week from 4.2% to 4.8%. See HERE. New average daily hospital admissions for COVID-19 appear to have peaked in the U.S. during the week ending July 30 and have since declined over the past two weeks, standing at 6,190 new admissions for the week ending August 6. CDC strongly recommends all eligible at-risk persons, including anyone 50+ years, obtain booster shots, which continue to show strong effectiveness towards preventing severe disease and hospitalization for all Omicron variants. See HERE.

COVID-19 in the County: Reported Cases Continue Gradual Decline As Other Health Impacts Occur

Average daily reported cases continue a gradual declining trend from the early June peak, but community transmission remains comparatively high and more serious health impacts continue to occur. An average 4.7 cases per day were reported for the week ending August 10, which represents a roughly 20% decline from the 7.7 daily cases reported the prior week. The current level of transmission still remains about 5-fold higher than the average of one reported case per day during late-March/early-April 2022. Emergency department (ED) visits for COVID-like illness also remain about 5-fold elevated over that seen in March-April. According to the NMDOH, 5.5% of all ED visits for the two weeks ending August 9 were for COVID-like illness. COVID-like illness includes ED encounters with chief complaint consisting of fever and cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, while also including COVID-19 associated discharge diagnoses codes. The definition excludes known influenza related ED visits coded with a related influenza discharge diagnosis. See HERE According to CDC, four COVID-19 deaths (as of August 9) occurred in the county during the recent surge beginning in early June. This burden represents about 20% of the total 21 COVID-19 deaths registered in the county since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Wastewater Surveillance Shows SARS-CoV-2 Virus Continuing to Circulate in County

The wastewater surveillance program involves collection of two weekly samples (Tuesday/Thursday) at both the Townsite and White Rock sewage treatment facilities. Biobot, the CDC contractor for the program, reports sample virus concentration levels as an “effective concentration,” which is a measure normalized by the amount of sewage in the system at sample collection time and the size of the population served by the treatment facility. See HERE. Samples collected at each facility in the county have consistently detected SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater since the first samples were collected on June 14. Virus concentration levels have varied, at times erratically, but generally suggest a declining trend consistent with the gradually declining trend in daily reported cases. The chart below shows the trend in individual sample results, excluding the August 2 White Rock sample, where the concentration exceeded 30,000 copies per milliliter (ml). The plotted wastewater data are censored at 10,000 copies per ml to facilitate data visualization. For samples obtained during the week of July 20, Biobot reports that the BA.5 variant accounted for essentially all viral copies (100%) detected in Los Alamos County municipal sewage. See https://biobot.io/data/

CDC Community Level Risk LOW But Transmission Risk Still Remains Comparatively High

For the week ending August 9, the CDC Community Level is LOW. The reported case incidence in Los Alamos County (170 cases per 100,000) is below the CDC criteria threshold of 200 cases per 100,000, and Health Services Area hospitalization metrics remain below CDC thresholds. Although gradually declining, transmission rates in the county still remain well above those seen in late-March 2022. CDC recommendations at LOW Community Level risk can be accessed here. See HERE

NOTE: The COVID-19 incidence data reviewed here are based on PCR-confirmed testing results compiled by CDC and NMDOH and do not include data on positive at-home antigen tests. As such, case counts are likely underestimated, but how much cannot be determined at any given time point.

To assist with more complete case monitoring in New Mexico, NMDOH provides for online reporting of positive at-home antigen results HERE.

News

CDC streamlines COVID-19 guidance to help the public better protect themselves and understand their risk

Today, CDC is streamlining its COVID-19 guidance to help people better understand their risk, how to protect themselves and others, what actions to take if exposed to COVID-19, and what actions to take if they are sick or test positive for the virus. COVID-19 continues to circulate globally, however, with so many tools available to us for reducing COVID-19 severity, there is significantly less risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death compared to earlier in the pandemic.

In support of this update CDC is:

Continuing to promote the importance of being up to date with vaccination to protect people against serious illness, hospitalization, and death.

Recommending that instead of quarantining if you were exposed to COVID-19, you wear a high-quality mask for 10 days and get tested on day 5.

Reiterating that regardless of vaccination status, you should isolate from others when you have COVID-19.

You should also isolate if you are sick and suspect that you have COVID-19 but do not yet have test results.

If your results are positive, follow CDC’s full isolation recommendations.

If your results are negative, you can end your isolation.

Recommending that if you test positive for COVID-19, you stay home for at least 5 days and isolate from others in your home. You are likely most infectious during these first 5 days. Wear a high-quality mask when you must be around others at home and in public.

If after 5 days you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication, and your symptoms are improving, or you never had symptoms, you may end isolation after day 5.

Regardless of when you end isolation, avoid being around people who are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 until at least day 11.

You should wear a high-quality mask through day 10.

Clarifying that after you have ended isolation, if your COVID-19 symptoms worsen, restart your isolation at day 0. Talk to a healthcare provider if you have questions about your symptoms or when to end isolation.

Recommending screening testing of asymptomatic people without known exposures will no longer be recommended in most community settings.

Actions to take will continue to be informed by the COVID-19 Community Levels, launched in February. CDC will continue to focus efforts on preventing severe illness and post-COVID conditions, while ensuring everyone have the information and tools, they need to lower their risk.

This updated guidance is intended to apply to community settings. In the coming weeks CDC will work to align stand-alone guidance documents, such as those for healthcare settings, congregate settings at higher risk of transmission, and travel, with today’s update.

To read the full news release, click HERE.

(source CDC)

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How do you manage Omicron BA.5 symptoms, including a sore throat?

While a sore throat has always been a symptom of Covid, experts said that it is becoming more common, and sometimes more severe, with the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron — now, the dominant strain of Covid in the United States.

To soothe an aching throat, “the best approaches are typically what grandma would advise,” said Dr. Michelle Prickett, a pulmonology and critical care specialist at Northwestern Medicine. Staying hydrated is crucial for alleviating inflammation in the throat, she said. If you don’t want to stick with water, you can substitute a sports drink like Gatorade. People should aim for 1.5 liters of water, or six to eight glasses, each day, said Dr. Abhijit Duggal, a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Prickett recommends that people mix about a teaspoon of table salt in warm water and gargle with the solution every few hours. Patients may also use topical anesthetics, like lozenges or cough drops, which can help numb the throat.

You can take over-the-counter decongestants to counter the other coldlike symptoms of Covid, Dr. Prickett said.

However, you also need to support your immune system so you can clear the virus. People sick with BA.5 should avoid alcohol, which can blunt the immune system, and take care of themselves. “The key is really rest,” Dr. Prickett said.

(source NYTimes)

COVID-19 Data Resources

CDC COVID Data Tracker - August 11, 2022

To get today's break down of positive case data, demographics information, vaccine status and more for Los Alamos County or other counties across the United States, click HERE

Johns Hopkins

Testing Trends Tool

The charts available with this TOOL layout the key metrics for understanding the reach and severity of COVID-19 in a given area.

Johns Hopkins

COVID-19 Status Report Dashboard for

Los Alamos County

Daily COVID-19 Data in Motion

The Johns Hopkins' Daily COVID-19 Data in Motion report is a 60-second, daily summary of the most important data on COVID-19 in the U.S., updated every morning. The report shares critical data on COVID-19 from the last 24 hours.

NMDOH Epidemiology Reports - Daily and Weekly Data

As part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, NMDOH collects and analyzes statewide data for COVID-19 positive cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. The reports reflect these critical data and are updated weekly - click HERE

Surveys and Questions

We are listening to you!

Your feedback is helping to shape future newsletters, inform decisions regarding services, and make Los Alamos County healthier and safer. Make sure to participate each week to be heard!

Remember, we appreciate your questions! We always try to respond in a timely manner, and if appropriate, we will include those Q&As in future newsletters.

Take a look at these results from the last survey: