U.S. COVID Cases Eclipse 89 Million as BA.5 "Means Business"

COVID cases in the United States have now eclipsed 89 million. According to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, there have been 89,221,950 cases resulting in 1,023,619 deaths with a mortality rate which has now dropped to 1.1%. Hospitalizations are nearing 35,000 which is about where we were at the beginning of March.

However, the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron has now emerged as the dominant COVID strain and is being characterized as the "worst variant" as it provides little immunity from either previous infections (including Omicron and its previous variants) or vaccines. If this is true then this country can look forward to experiencing 1 million new cases of COVID daily, perhaps more. In which case, can we expect a return to hospitalization rates of 150,000 as was the case with Omicron back in mid-January?

This morning a former colleague of mine messaged me on Facebook told me she had come down with COVID and said, "Keep wearing a mask—this BA5 variant means business."

The only saving grace of BA.5 is that while it is more communicable it is less severe and vaccinations and boosters will help one stay out of the hospital and the ICU. As Dr. Fauci put it, "Variants will continue to emerge if the virus circulates globally and in this county. We should not let it disrupt our lives, but we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with."

Let's see if we begin to experience any disruptions by the end of July.