How big is the latest COVID-19 wave, do you need to worry?

Earlier this month, the federal government publication You will be able to order the third round of the free home COVID-19 test.

There are definitely benefits to doing a free home test.

“Home exams can be an important tool for finding out if people are infected with COVID-19, modifying their behavior, and seeing a doctor accordingly.” Dr. Jimmy JohannesA pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the California Memorial Care Long Beach Medical Center told Healthline.

“Easy access to home tests promotes behavior that can reduce the risk of infection. In addition, easy access to home tests allows COVID-19 infected individuals to receive early antiviral treatment. You can receive it, “he said.

“But we can imagine that rapid COVID-19 test results at home are often not reported to the public health system, which can lead to an underestimation of the COVID-19 positive rate,” Johannes added. rice field.

Indeed, the benefits of rapid self-administration testing are certainly worthwhile, but they can distort the official count of positive infections. It is easy to count the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19.

Hospitalizations in the United States reached a record high in January and continued to decline until mid-April, amid the prevalence of Omicron variants. Hospitalizations have increased since then, but appear to have leveled off at about one-sixth of the January peak.

7-day average Daily death By the end of May, it will be about 25% lower than in mid-April. For the time being, this seems to be stable.

Based on the numbers England And now New EnglandThis latest wave seems to take 6-7 weeks from the start to the peak.

The BA.2 Omicron strain is the predominant variant in the United States today, A little over half In all cases.

Compared to early strains of the new coronavirus, it appears to spread more easily, but causes less serious illness and partially explains the differences in positive, hospitalization, and mortality.

Dr. Charles BaileyThe director of Infection Prevention and Medical Care at Providence St. Joseph Hospital and Providence Mission Hospital in Orange County, California, told the Healthline that new variants may not be the only cause of the increase in cases.

“I think it’s being further driven by social behavior, in addition to the vulnerabilities that result from the weakening of protection after infection and prior vaccination,” Bailey said. “If the latest COVID subvariants were the main factor, I would have expected a sharper rise in some cases.”

Johannes agreed that social behavior is likely to be a factor in the increase in infection.

“I think the main reason for the increase is … people are loosening precautions against COVID-19 and more infectious variants are in circulation,” he said.

If you haven’t been vaccinated yet and are medically vaccinated, experts say it will help prevent the spread of the disease.

Many people infected with COVID-19 may experience mild symptoms, which may be completely asymptomatic, Remember Each infection makes it easier for the disease to spread to vulnerable populations at risk of more serious illness.

More infections also increase the likelihood of further mutations that can lead to more infectious or fatal mutations.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of all individuals to determine the amount of risk they accept in their daily lives, and available precautions such as vaccination and masking are tools to reduce this risk.

And if you’re feeling exhausted from the pandemic, you’re not alone, even if this isn’t one of the more talked about numbers.

If you feel depressed or anxious about this latest wave, contact your doctor or mental health professional.