(WXYZ) — The State of Michigan will release new information on the number of COVID-19 cases across the state on Tuesday afternoon. It will be our first look at what – if any – the impact of Fourth of July gatherings will have on trends.
Even though parades, picnics and fireworks displays are all outdoors, experts say there is still risk.
Those experts are also watching the new omicron sub-variants as they become the dominant strain around the world and in the U.S., and change the way we understand the spread of respiratory viruses.
Heather Wagner of Express Med Urgent Care in Southfield says the holiday gatherings could set the stage for a bump in demand for COVID-19 testing.
"I expect we'll see more folks coming in with exposures. You know, they found out someone was positive and being tested," she said.
That's in part because of the omicron subvariant BA.4 and BA.5, which are on the rise. BA.5 now accounts for nearly 54% of all COVID-19 cases in America. BA.4 accounts for another 17%.
"These current variants are a little bit sneakier around things like our immunizations and the antibodies from previous exposures. So that's a real concern," Wagner said.
Dr. Matthew Sims of Beaumont Health says reinfections are up because, in addition to doing a better job of evading our immune systems, these new variants are more infectious. They are also behaving in unexpected ways for a respiratory virus. The flu, for example, spreads better and farther in cold dry air.
While being outside is safer than being inside, being outside doesn't mean you can't get the virus. If you're in a crowd or even face to face with someone who has COVID-19, you can still catch it.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a rise over the next couple of weeks," Sims said.
So what can we do? The symptoms of these subvariants can be mistaken for a cold or seasonal allergies. When in doubt, get tested early.
COVID-19 medicines like Paxlovid are more effective early on, and The FDA is allowing pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid with some limitations to improve access. If you're not vaccinated and boosted, do it now to be protected for the fall.
"Don't get complacent. If you've had previous COVID infections, that's not giving you the protection that it maybe was previously," Wagner said.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
