Covid spreads in US as part of global summer surge

World Health Organisation says at least 84 countries are having rising cases, as well as athletes at Olympics

A New York Covid-19 vaccination centre in May 2022. Bloomberg

The US, along with dozens of other countries, is seeing a Covid-19 summer surge, more than four years since it first appeared.

Test positivity for the virus reached 16.3 per cent as of last week, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, using data from the week before.

The pandemic is much different in 2024 than in earlier years: wearing masks and up-to-date vaccination are not as widespread, and testing rates are lower, making for a murkier picture.

The number of positive results may be higher than data is showing as people face issues with higher costs and test availability.

The national wastewater surveillance system is tracking an increase in Covid spread, more than double the levels from the same time last year.

Covid cases are also increasing globally, the World Health Organisation Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said this week, and present in at least 84 countries.

“Overall, test positivity is above 10 per cent, but this fluctuates per region. In Europe, per cent positivity is above 20 per cent,” Ms Van Kerkhove said.

Members of the Australian swim team wear masks while attending a competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. EPA

As the world has tried to move on from the pandemic, Covid-19 has persisted in surging every summer since 2020.

“The current increase in Covid cases was completely expected as this has occurred in prior summers,” Amesh Adalja, of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, told The National.

“The severity is not anything that is worrisome in terms of hospital capacity as cases are largely decoupled from severe disease, given the level of immunity in the population as well as tools such as antivirals.”

Covid has so far regularly surged in the winter and summer – markedly a difference from the seasonal influenza, which commonly only spreads in the coldest months.

During summer and winter, there are rises in travelling by air or train, staying inside for comfort from the weather and gathering at large events, all of which encourage the spread of the virus.

The WHO reported on Tuesday that at least 40 athletes at the Olympic Village in Paris have tested positive for Covid or other respiratory viruses.

“There is much Covid at the Paris Olympics,” Maureen Miller, an infectious diseases specialist at Columbia University, told The National.

“Several athletes have taken themselves out of competition because of infection. Others have engaged in competition while infected because there are no rules.”

On Thursday, US Track and Field revealed that runner Noah Lyles had run in the 200m final while infected with Covid.

He collapsed after completing the race and was taken away in a wheelchair.

US runner Noah Lyles wears a mask as he leaves after the men's 200m final. AFP

With vaccinations and antiviral drugs, the virus is not lethal for most age groups, although risks of hospital admission and death are higher for elderly and immuno-compromised people.

High-risk people “should consider wearing masks, as well as having a plan for antivirals if they test positive”, Dr Adalja said.

President Joe Biden was infected with Covid in mid-July, his third bout with the virus in two years. Vice President Kamala Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff, also tested positive for Covid a month ago.

A CDC analysis published on Thursday found that Covid-19 had dropped to the 10th leading cause of death in 2023, down from fourth in 2022.

“This is an endemic virus, so it is going to be part of the human condition with ups and downs in perpetuity,” Dr Adalja said.

“The key was to make it a more manageable infection with tools developed by science and medicine.”

A disease is endemic when the virus is made manageable with immunity or treatment.

But an endemic virus can still result in high amounts of infection, with risks of severe illness and death.

“Covid is definitely here to stay,” Dr Miller said. “We keep ignoring it at our peril.

“Currently vaccines can only prevent hospitalisations and death. They do not prevent infection.

"Each new infection increases the risk of a new mutation that can make the virus more transmissible and able to evade any defences we have built up through previous infection, and or vaccination and booster series.”

Being infected with the virus also presents the mild risk of long Covid – a debilitating set of symptoms that affect people months or years after infection.

“Covid affects every organ system in our bodies,” Dr Miller said.

There is continuing research being conducted on the prevalence of health complications from repeat infections, including diabetes, stroke and lung and heart issues.

“While those with pre-existing conditions are at higher risk, young and healthy individuals are also at risk, particularly as the number of infections increases,” she said.