COVID, Flu Cases Rising In PA After Holiday Surge

PENNSYLVANIA ? A holiday season surge in serious cases of coronavirus and flu has swept across much of the nation and is impacting Pennsylvania, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This comes as increased travel and larger gatherings provide more vectors for disease to spread, and as a new subvariant has become dominant.

Pennsylvania has seen 1,295 new COVID-19 hospital admissions over the most recently tracked week, which ended Dec 23. That's more than 25 percent increase over the week before.

Influenza cases, meanwhile, have shot up to 11,913 statewide as of Dec. 30, according to the Department of Health. That's more than quadrupled the number of cases since the start of December. Increases are typical in early winter months, but the rise, concurrent with the sharp rise in COVID cases, has some officials concerned. Analysts are warning that the surge could impact schools and other sectors of society, and to take significant precautions to minimize spread.

"Schools must take COVID mitigation seriously because each COVID reinfection increases the cumulative risk of hospitalization and long-term severe health outcomes, and children are the primary driver of infections in the home that can impact siblings, parents, and other relatives," said Dr. Michael Hoerger, the director of the national Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative out of Tulane University.

It's not clear if the Pennsylvania Department of Health is considering any advanced mitigation measures like masking in certain environments, or social distancing. Patch has reached out to the state for comment.

Nationwide, emergency department visits related to COVID-19 have risen by 12 percent in the past week, positive tests have increased .7 percent, hospitalizations have increased 16.7 percent, and deaths have increased 10 percent.

The surge comes as a new subvariant called JN.1 has emerged. In a matter of short weeks, it has fully displaced HV.1 as the dominant variant nationally, now accounting for 44.1 percent of all new cases, accoridng to the CDC. It also accounts for 38.9 percent of cases in the CDC's five state area including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, marking a significant increase in the past month.

On the more positive and notable side, fewer people remain hospitalized for COVID than at this time last year, and nowhere near the peak of 150,650 hospitalizations on Jan. 15, 2022.

The CDC says there?s no evidence the symptoms of JN.1 are more severe than for other strains, and the severity of illness usually depends on the person?s immunity. While symptoms don?t change much as the virus mutates, this one in particular evolves quickly, raising concern it may be better at evading immune systems, according to Yale Medicine.