Covid-19 Update: March 15, 2022

Mental health and Covid, ending the state of emergency, and a tiny bit about Ukraine. Not necessarily in that order.

I wanted to share a quick little update about some things that are causing confusion but really shouldn't. I also want to encourage you to keep an eye on numbers over the next month - after the last big surge, we have roughly 10 weeks of herd immunity before we can get COVID again. There are several variants floating around that could possibly cause another surge once those 10 weeks pass - we are in week 7 or 8 depending on how you are counting. I do not say this to worry you, just to say hold your breath just a little bit longer. Give it a month before we ring the all-clear bell.

1. Numbers are so far down we should be celebrating. If you aren't, it's a good time to do so. Yesterday there were less than 20k new cases (17k for those who are tracking). That is huge! Three hundred and twenty-six deaths were reported nationwide.

2. There is some controversy over saying we are no longer in a state of emergency. There are lots of opinions on this one but the most compelling case for keeping the designation is that much of our current ability to capture cases and deaths is because of the designation. Every county is currently reporting cases and deaths because of the requirement to do so and that requirement is because of the emergency designation. If we stop too soon, we will lose the capability of monitoring. When this truly becomes endemic we won't need to monitor like this and I seriously doubt it would be a nationally notifiable disease. That means we wouldn't be able to really track it anymore. So ending the designation too soon could create an issue. You may recall back at the beginning of all this that data ownership was shifted away from the CDC - well last week it shifted back. The CDC has asked places to track the virus in wastewater as we move forward because you can see a surge in wastewater just before an area experiences an outbreak. Some places are resisting this request. You can read about which states and why here. If I ruled the world, which clearly I do not, I would maintain the designation for 6 more weeks. You can read more about all of this, other implications of removing the designation, and other people's opinions on it all here.

3. If you had COVID you should watch for signs of inflammation, even those who experienced mild covid are having long-term inflammatory issues. You can read the latest study here. Also, for those who were bedridden for even a week with covid, we are seeing an increased risk of depression and anxiety. So if that is you, please know that you are not alone.

4. I know the situation in Ukraine is not a COVID topic, but it is a big public health topic and I have heard lots of misinformation regarding the biological labs in Ukraine so I wanted to just provide a small amount of context here. Every country in the world has biological labs in which they house pathogens. For example, influenza (the flu virus), hemorrhagic fever, and anthrax are pathogens that would be housed in a lab. These labs are scored as level 1, 2, 3, or 4 depending on the types of pathogens and associated safety measures needed for working with a given pathogen. We use this to research the pathogens, develop treatments, vaccines, etc. This is not nefarious or unusual, it is research. Biological labs are not the same thing as biological weapons labs. Ukraine was encouraged (by their own health ministry) to destroy all the pathogens in their labs when the Russian invasion began - not because they were doing anything wrong, or creating weapons, but as a means of protecting the samples and preventing the Russians from using those same labs to release pathogens. Hemorrhagic fever is not something you want to get, weaponized or not. Somehow this advice to the labs in Ukraine got all twisted up and now people are proclaiming they have bioweapons labs. So I just want to clarify that. First, biological labs and biological weapons labs - not the same thing. The United States has both. Russia has both. Many countries have both, but there is currently no evidence that Ukraine does. In fact, only 3 labs in Ukraine have BSL4 status, something we helped them establish in order to develop treatments to counteract things like anthrax. They, at their own discretion, destroyed any pathogens of concern at the beginning of the invasion to prevent Russia from releasing them. You can read more about pre-war reports on Ukraine labs here. So....as with covid, don't believe everything you hear.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Yesterday my toilet overflowed and my washing machine caught on fire. Yep, it was that kind of day. But yesterday is over. I mean, the toilet is still not working right (7 people, one working bathroom -yikes) and my husband is ordering parts to try to salvage our 20-year-old washer so the challenges of yesterday are not forgotten or gone, but the day is new. So I accept the challenges of yesterday as I walk into the newness of today.

We have had some rough years as a global community. And like my toilet troubles, those are not gone, but each day is a new day and yesterday is over. It isn't easy, but I challenge you to let yesterday go. Don't hold on to it. Because trying to carry yesterday into today and tomorrow is simply too heavy of a burden. I lay in bed at night and reflect on the Ukrainian woman who said she wanted the world to "be thankful for peace and freedom." It kind of puts a broken toilet into perspective.