United States: The U.S. is having more COVID-19 cases this summer, with more people going to the emergency room and more deaths from the virus. From mid of June to 22 of June the emergency room visits increased by more than 23%.
Rising COVID-19 Cases and Hospital Visits
The number of people who are dying of COVID-19 also increased by 14.3 percent in past few days. However, the overall number of deaths from COVID-19 is still low, making up only 0.8 percent of all deaths in the U.S. Even though the numbers are rising, they are still much lower than past surges.
Growth of FLiRT Variants
As reported in the mlive, the experts are attributing the upswing to a growth in FLiRT variants, which include these particular variants like KP.3, KP.2, and KP.1.1 or any others starting with KP or JN. FLiRT variants are somehow part of the omicron line and are manipulating can sat dominating in the United States, including KP.3 and KP.2, which are reluctantly accountable for more than 50% of all current cases in the US.
Mutations are to be expected, the CDC pointed out.
“Viruses that are keep on changing through the mutation and sometimes these particular result in a new variant of the virus and some of the changes that mutations allow the particular virus to spread very smoothly and keep it resistant to treat and get vaccinated and as this virus got spread it would be really difficult to stop.” the agency said on its website.
Common Symptoms and Expert Insights
While the FLiRT variants do not appear to cause severe illness and there does appear to be the one symptom which is the most common. That particular symptom is sore throat which is reported by more people who test positive for FLiRT variants.
“Unfortunately, one of the most common COVID symptoms currently seems to be a sore throat with or without a mild fever,” infectious disease specialist Dr. Andreas M. Kogelnik, MD, PhD., told Parade. “ I say unfortunately because—of course—a sore throat can be attributed to many different causes.”
CDC Guidelines for Isolation
Other symptoms are very similar to those reports of the previous variants.
- Body aches
- Chills
- Congestion
- Cough
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Headache
- Congestion or runny nose
Recent CDC guidelines recommends people isolate until their symptoms are improving and fever is gone without the use of medication for at least 24 hours. After that, it’s recommended people take extra precautions for the next five days.