Far From Contained, Covid-19 Upends Plans

"Many people are embarking on a summer of vacations, concerts and weddings put off during the height of the pandemic. Covid-19 is still finding ways to disrupt some of those plans.

Covid-19 isn't causing acute illness and death on the scale it once did, thanks in part to protection built up by vaccines and prior infections. But Covid-19 is far from under control, epidemiologists say, and the virus is sickening and sidelining people from work or social events as it continues to spread.

"People can't come to work. People are short-staffed," said Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. "Covid-19 is still inflicting enough damage."

The U.S. is logging some 100,000 known cases a day, and many more are being detected via at-home tests health departments don't track. This is a stark difference from a year ago, when U.S. cases sank below 12,000 a day, the lowest level since the first surge, as vaccinations rose and many hoped the virus was in retreat.

In many ways, Americans are still resuming patterns of prepandemic life. Couples are heading back down the aisle after waves of pandemic wedding cancellations. Commercial flights in the U.S. for the week ended June 12 were down just 14% from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, and up about 10% from this point a year ago, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

But Covid-19 continues to cause disruptions. Hospitals in Covid-19 hot spots are dealing with the latest waves of infections among employees. Citing challenges including managing Covid-19 cases among workers, Delta Air Lines Inc. last month said it would reduce service by about 100 daily departures from July 1 through Aug. 7, primarily in the U.S. and Latin America.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease expert, has tested positive, the National Institutes of Health said Wednesday. The 81-year-old has mild symptoms and is isolating, the NIH said.

People heading back out to enjoy in-person entertainment face interruptions, too. Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band recently postponed 12 U.S. concert dates because two band members came down with Covid-19.

"As we all know, Covid is still here and despite being careful these things happen," Mr. Starr said on his website, which said postponed shows would be rescheduled for September.

In Texas, the Gilbert & Sullivan Austin theater company canceled the remaining performances of its show, "The McAdo," because of a spate of Covid-19 cases among the cast. The show, based on "The Mikado," had made its debut on June 10 after a long pandemic delay. The cast and crew wore masks to rehearsals and underwent testing once a week, said Diane Radin, the company's president and chief executive.

"They've put so much work into it, it just breaks my heart," she said. "They've been doing everything they could to be safe and careful, and it's just insidious."

While data show vaccines add significant protection against severe illness and death, breakthrough cases have become commonplace. Protection from earlier infections has proven fleeting for many people, too, as new versions of the virus cause repeat illness.

Epidemiologists said these cases still matter. People face the risk of developing long-running symptoms after falling ill and of passing infections on to people with weakened immune systems. While Covid-19 deaths are hovering not far above the all-time low level reached last year, the U.S. is still averaging about 276 reported deaths a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. could tamp down the level of infections through steps such as using masks and at-home tests more rigorously, many public-health experts said. In Philadelphia, health officials are offering event organizers and venues free Covid-19 rapid-test kits for events like weddings and graduations to help screen for infections. Officials have distributed more than 18,700 kits since the initiative launched in May, a health-department spokesman said.

Widespread infections also heighten the risk for yet-more virus mutations and variants, health experts say. The highly transmissible, immune-evading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 collectively accounted for more than one in five recent cases as of June 11, according to CDC estimates.

"We shouldn't become desensitized," said Olaoluwa Fayanju, regional medical director at Oak Street Health in Ohio.

Last week, Dr. Fayanju's parents were diagnosed with Covid-19 and knocked out with extreme fatigue, he said. They are feeling better, Dr. Fayanju said, thanks in part to vaccines and treatment, but the infections spoiled their plans to fly in for a visit, he said.

"We still need to take this virus seriously," he said.” [1]

1.  U.S. News: Far From Contained, Covid-19 Upends Plans
Abbott, Brianna; Kamp, Jon. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 17 June 2022: A.3.