Introduction
As 2023 begins, Covid-19 does not seem as much of a threat as it did in the years as it did in the past. The cases reported per week in November were around 265000 in relation to our estimate of over 487000 per week currently. Corona has been fading re-emerging throughout the past as new strands such as Omicron and Delta causing numerous fatalities. Luckily, we have been able to build up immunity with the help of Pfizer and Moderno vaccines. Experts predict an uprising in the number of cases this winter and I wanted to bring awareness about this in my blog.
Covid-19 Reemergence?
“We are expecting a Christmas surge and we are concerned it might be a triple surge,” says William Schaffner, MD, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. When he talks about this, he is referring to RSV and Flu viruses, including Covid-19. One specific place that will be severely affected due to the uprising cases is China. As many know, China had strict Covid-19 policies implemented 2020 through 2022, but the dimensions of those policies have been diminished. Some models predict that over 1 million deaths can occur in 2023 due to Covid-19. While adapting to minimized policies, China will be affected by the winter surge the most, and 20% of our world’s population resides in China.
Safety Measures
The most obvious safety measure anyone could take is getting vaccinated. Obviously wearing a mask around will help contain the rate of spreading but we are all sick of that. But even with a mask it is possible to receive the virus and still have a fatal response to it. The best way to combat having a fatal or severely negative response to Covid-19 is to take a vaccine. Adults older than 65 and people with health issues are more susceptible to Covid-19 and they need immediate vaccinations. According to the CDC, only 35.7 percent of adults older than 65 have received a vaccination. That means around 1/2 of the population susceptible to dying from Covid-19 have not taken any precautions to be safe.
Revival of Mask Usage?
On December 9th NYC commissioner on Health and Mental hygiene urged an indoor mask mandate to be reinstated. Later that day, Los Angeles County also urged the usage of masks indoors to combat rising cases. Even though the CDC no longer has mask mandates implemented, they are still strongly urging people to continue wearing masks in public areas to stop spreading. After Massachusetts dropped the statewide mandating of masks, cases rose by 40% and other countries fear this will occur again if masks are not worn. Some schools in Philadelphia are mandating usage of masks for 2 weeks after returning from winter break while some other states are trying to avoid the problem. Personally, I agree with the choice of the Philadelphia school as it will most likely reduce the number of cases spread. After returning from break in 2022, cases were spread rapidly throughout all schools and few are trying to prevent a recurrence.
Works Cited
https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20221229/whats-next-covid-what-to-know