The total number of new cases of COVID-19 in Evanston was 215 for the week ending June 22, 6% higher than the week ending June 16. The number of new cases in the state decreased by about 16%. Hospitalizations remained at about the same level.
Cook County, including Chicago, is in the medium community risk level. City officials say Evanston is also in the medium risk level.
The City of Evanston says that the state, the county and the city do not have a mechanism to report, verify or track at-home test results. Because a positive at-home test is regarded as highly accurate, most people who test positive at home do not get a second test outside the home that is reported to government officials. The number of new COVID-19 cases reported by Illinois Department of Public Health and the city thus significantly understates the actual number of new cases that are contracted.
Last week the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved Modernas vaccine for children 6 months through 5 years old and Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years old.
Modernas vaccine recommends two doses given four weeks apart. Pfifzers vaccine suggests three doses, with the second dose given three weeks after the first, and the third two months after the second.
Both vaccines are currently available in Illinois this week. The IDPH recommends that people find their nearest vaccination location at vaccines.gov.
Illinois: On June 23 the number of new cases in the state was 3,493.
The seven-day average of new cases in Illinois on June 23 was 3,575, down from 4,251 on June 16, a16% decrease. The chart below shows the trend.
Evanston: Evanston reported there were 42 new COVID-19 cases of local residents on June 22.(Evanston is reporting COVID-19 data with a one-day delay.)
There was a total of 215 new COVID-19 cases of Evanston residents in the week ending June 22, compared to 203 new cases in the week ending June 16, an increase of about 6%.
The chart below shows the trend.
One Evanstonian died from COVID-19 during the week ending June 22. That bring the number of deaths due to COVID-19 to 150.
Northwestern University. The latest data reported on NUs website is that between June 10 and June 16 there were 106 new COVID-19 cases of faculty, staff or students. If the cases are of an Evanston resident, they are included in Evanstons data for the relevant period, Ike Ogbo, Director of Evanstons Department of Health and Human Services told the RoundTable. NU will update its data tomorrow.
The weekly number of new cases per 100,000 people in Illinois is 196 in the seven days ending June 23.
As of June 22, the weekly number of new cases per 100,000 people in Evanston was 290. As of June 23, the number was 164 for Chicago, and 206 for suburban Cook County. An accompanying chart shows the trend.
Hospitalizations in Illinois due to COVID-19 have stayed about the same in the last three weeks. They were 1,129 on June 22, about 60 fewer than one week ago.
The chart below, prepared by the City of Evanston, shows the trends in Evanston hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
The CDC and IDPH look at the combination of three metrics to determine whether a community level of risk for COVID-19 is low, medium or high: 1) total number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days; 2) the new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 in the last seven days; and 3) the percent of staffed inpatient hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. [1]
The City of Evanston reported June 23 that Evanston is in the mediumrisk category. IDPH reported today that Cook County, including Chicago, is in the medium risk category.
While Evanston has more than 200 new cases per 100,000 people, the city reported this evening that it has a seven-day total of 6.4 new hospital admissions per 100,000, and that it has 2.2% staffed inpatient hospital beds that are occupied by COVID patients, using a seven-day average.
The Ccty has not said which hospitals or how many hospitals it is considering in making its analysis of community risk.
The CDC and IDPH recommend that people in a community with a medium transmission rate should take the following precautions:
FOOTNOTES
1/ CDC recommends the use of three indicators to measure COVID-19 Community Levels: 1) new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the last 7 days; 2) new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the last 7 days; and 3) the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by patients with confirmed COVID-19 (7-day average).
The chart below illustrates how these indicators are combined to determine whether COVID-19 Community Levels are low, medium, or high. The CDC provides many recommendations depending on whether the COVID-19 Community Level is low, medium, or high.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/indicators-monitoring-community-levels.html
What GAO Found
Twenty-three of 24 major agencies GAO surveyed reported implementing regulatory flexibilities in response to COVID-19. Regulatory flexibilities can include actions that modify regulatory standards, as well as activities that modify their applicability (e.g., through waivers or exemptions) or enforcement. A majority of agencies reported increased use of multiple types of flexibilities in response to COVID-19 compared to before the pandemic (see figure).
Agencies' Change in Use of Regulatory Flexibilities in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Officials from each of the five agencies GAO interviewedthe Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Transportation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Small Business Administrationreported designing and implementing flexibilities based on internal expertise developed from prior events. For example, officials reported that their experiences managing Ebola, constrained funding situations, and natural disasterssuch as Hurricanes Sandy and Mariahelped them develop responses to COVID-19. Officials from these agencies stated that they generally did not rely on specific plans, policies, or other tools given the unique challenges posed by COVID-19.
Fifteen of the 24 agencies GAO surveyed reported having already completed an assessment of at least one regulatory flexibility to understand successes or challenges with using them. Ten agencies reported having used at least one such assessment to inform their decision-making, such as whether to modify an existing flexibility or use a new flexibility. Officials from several of the selected agencies reported that their agencies had not conducted assessments of at least one of the flexibilities discussed with GAO. Among reasons why assessments were not conducted, officials said that some flexibilities were intended to be temporary, and that their focus remained on responding to and recovering from the ongoing pandemic.
Federal regulations can generate substantial benefits to society, but benefits can diminish if regulations are not adapted to meet emerging public needs. Federal agencies have implemented regulatory flexibilities to address the COVID-19 pandemic's substantial effect. Regulatory flexibilities are actions taken, at least in part, to temporarily reduce regulatory burdens or constraints imposed on regulated entities.
The CARES Act includes a provision for GAO to report on its COVID-19 pandemic oversight efforts. GAO was also asked to look at regulatory flexibilities available to agencies in responding to COVID-19. For this report, GAO examines (1) agencies' implementation of regulatory flexibilities in response to the pandemic; (2) the plans, policies, and other tools selected agencies used to identify and design regulatory flexibilities; and (3) efforts these selected agencies took to assess the impacts of regulatory flexibilities.
To do so, in October 2021, GAO surveyed 24 major federal agenciesthose identified in the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amendedregarding their use of COVID-19 regulatory flexibilities. GAO also interviewed officials at five agencies in part because those agencies reported using more types of flexibilities in response to COVID-19 compared to before the pandemic. GAO interviewed officials about how they identified, designed, and assessed their flexibilities. GAO also reviewed GAO's work related to major agencies' COVID-19 flexibilities, and summarized examples of these flexibilities, as appropriate.
For more information, contact Yvonne D. Jones at (202) 512-6806 or JonesY@gao.gov.
WASHINGTON (AP) Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, says his COVID-19 recovery is an example for the nation on the protection offered by vaccines and boosters.
Watch the event in the player above.
Speaking during a White House briefing, Fauci, 81, said he began experiencing virus symptoms on June 14 and tested positive a day later. He was prescribed the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, on June 15.
Im still feeling really quite fine, Fauci said Thursday, as the administration emphasized the protection offered by vaccines to people of all ages, after the U.S. became the first country in the world to extend vaccine eligibility to children as young as six months.
I think Im an example, given my age, of what were all talking about today, Fauci said. Im vaccinated. Im doubly boosted. And I believe if that were not the case, I very likely would not be talking to you looking as well as I look, I think, right now. So all is well with Fauci.
WATCH: Missouri becomes latest state to use COVID relief to support underfunded schools
Vaccine shipments for infants and toddlers arrived in some locations over the weekend and some spots, including a Walgreens in South Carolina and another in New York City, opened up appointments for Monday.
The Food and Drug Administration greenlighted the Moderna and Pfizer kid shots on Friday and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them Saturday. In the U.S., COVID-19 vaccines were first tested and given in late 2020 to health care workers and older adults. Teens and school-age kids were added last year.
(WHTM) From Lancaster to Harrisburg, Covid-19 is still spreading rampantly through the community.
Even though we are seeing an increase in cases, were not seeing an increase in severe disease and I think thats because we have many more people vaccinated and many people who are already infected, said Dr. John Goldman, infectious disease specialist at UPMC.
Now those vaccines are on the way for the smallest children, 5 years old and under. The FDA authorized both Pfizer and Moderna for U.S. children. Shipping for the new doses started this weekend.
But which one should your child get? Dr. Goldman says either one is fine.
Im not sure there is any difference between the individual vaccines but I think the most important thing is to make sure the child is vaccinated, Dr. Goldman said.
Both UPMC and Lancaster General Health expect to receive doses in the next week,
While Covid-19 has been less dangerous for kids, Dr. Goldman says that doesnt mean its harmless.
There are still more children that have died from COVID than have died from the flu. Its an important part of fighting COVID if the kids under 5 who frequently are drivers of the disease and frequently infect their parents and frequently infect grandparents get vaccinated, he added.
Stay up to date on the latest from abc27 News on-air and on the go with thefree abc27 Mobile app.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a novel rapid assay that can detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using widely-available glucose meters. This novel glucose meter-based antibody assay is easier to perform and more cost-effective than the current gold-standard assays.
One of the studys co-authors Dr. Jamie Spangler, professor at Johns Hopkins University, said, This work presents an innovative approach towards democratizing the availability of immune protection data by enlisting commercial glucometers to quantitatively measure levels of disease-targeted antibodies.
Dr. Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, said, While there are notable barriers to the development of fieldable diagnostics using off-the-shelf glucometers, studies such as these highlight a possible future where home diagnosis is as cheap and accurate as glucose sensing. At this point, we will have a transformation in global surveillance and personal disease detection.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The tests for diagnosing COVID-19 detect the presence of viral genetic material or proteins. In contrast, assays measuring antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 can help assess past exposure to the virus.
These antibodies include IgG antibodies, which are the predominant type of antibodies present in the blood. IgG antibodies play a vital role in producing an immune response against bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
Notably, these IgG antibodies persist for months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection or after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
The IgG antibody levels are predictive of the degree of protection against a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, evaluating antibody levels in the population can help determine how long immunity against COVID-19 persists after vaccination or a previous infection.
The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has also raised fears about waning immunity, making it crucial to assess levels of immune protection in the population. Determining antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 could thus help to guide policy decisions about the need for booster shots.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are the gold standard for measuring antibody levels. However, accurately quantifying antibody levels using ELISAs requires blood samples to be sent to specialized laboratories due to the need for expensive detection devices. As a result, conducting these assays is time-consuming, costly, and requires skilled technicians.
Although rapid ELISA tests have been developed for use in the clinic, these tests only provide qualitative information and remain costly. Thus, there is a need for cost-effective and broadly accessible alternatives to ELISAs that can be used by clinicians or the general public.
To overcome these limitations associated with ELISAs, scientists have developed tests that are compatible with glucose meters. Using commercially available glucose meters for antibody detection can reduce the cost of detection and the need for skilled technicians.
These tests involve antibodies or other detection molecules coupled with the enzyme invertase which breaks down sucrose or sugar into glucose. The antibodies coupled with invertase bind to the protein of interest in a sample and produce glucose upon the introduction of a sucrose solution. The amount of glucose produced is proportional to the amount of protein of interest and can be detected by a glucose meter.
Coupling antibodies with invertase, however, has proved difficult. In some studies, researchers have indirectly coupled invertase with antibodies with the help of intermediate compounds such as nanoparticles. However, such an approach can cause variation in the amount of coupling and produces inconsistent results.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have now developed a novel assay involving antibodies that are directly coupled with two invertase molecules. The researchers used genetically modified laboratory cultured cells to express these antibodies fused with invertase molecules.
In contrast to indirect coupling, the genetic fusion of the antibody and invertase enzyme ensures that a consistent number of invertase molecules are attached to the antibody. These antibodies coupled with invertase can bind to all human IgG antibodies.
The novel assay uses a plastic strip coated with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Upon incubation of the strip with blood samples from those with a history of COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies selectively bind to the spike proteins coating the surface of the strip.
After rinsing the strip to remove the non-specific antibodies, the strip is first transferred to a solution containing the antibody-invertase fusion protein, and then to a sucrose solution.
The SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibodies bound to the spike protein on the strip can then be detected by the antibody-invertase fusion protein. The invertase enzyme subsequently breaks down sucrose into glucose, which can be detected using a glucose meter. The assay produces glucose in proportion to the SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG antibodies in the blood sample.
In the present study, the researchers found that the glucose meter-based antibody-invertase protein assay could accurately detect IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and its performance was comparable with commercially available ELISAs.
The antibody-invertase fusion protein recognizes all IgG antibodies produced by the human body, making this assay versatile.
The immediate goal for this technology is to scale up manufacturing to allow for broad deployment. We hope to use emergent data from this platform to correlate disease protection with antibody levels across a wide range of subjects, Dr. Spangler said.
The assay could be used against other conditions by coating the strip with a protein other than the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. For instance, strips coated with the spike protein from a SARS-CoV-2 variant could be used to measure antibody levels against that variant.
We envision that the assay we have developed could be adapted to detect antibodies against future variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as against other infectious diseases. The assay could also be used to detect antibodies in the context of other conditions such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, allergy, or transplantation. Dr. Jamie Spangler
This technology can offer important scientific insights and also inform decisions related to medical interventions and public health policies. Furthermore, the versatile nature of this platform allows it to be readily adapted to target a variety of disease applications beyond infection, added Dr. Spangler.
Brain Capital conceptualizes brain health (e.g., the lack of mental illness and neurodegenerative disease) and brain skills (e.g., education) as essential to the knowledge economy. This concept is based on the assumption that our brains are our greatest asset and provides a framework to define brain issues, quantify them, and track them. Brain Capital can be driven into policies and investments
COVID-19 has had enormous negative effects on individual, societal, and worldwide Brain Capital. We are in the infancy stages of understanding COVID-19s short- and long-term effects on the brain. However, what we do know is alarming. While COVID-19 is mainly a respiratory illness, long-COVID-19 is increasingly being revealed as a neuropsychiatric disorder. In other words, long-COVID-19 is all about the brain. An estimated 22-32 percent of patients who recover from COVID-19 experience brain fog and cognitive challenges as part of their experience of long COVID-19. Other research suggests that one-third of COVID-19 sufferers will have a new onset or recurrent psychiatric problem (often depression or anxiety) in the ensuing year.Additionally, it is not just people with severe COVID-19 who are affected. Studies have found that people across all stages of COVID-19, including those who were and were not hospitalized, have experienced challenges with attention, memory, and executive functioning. From a clinical perspective, we know that several factors can lead to post-COVID-19 cognitive problems and mental disorders, including pre-existing illnesses, damage from the virus itself, neuroinflammation, and vascular damage. However, further research is needed to understand the full mechanisms and implications of COVID-19 on the brain.
This decline in brain healthand thus of Brain Capitalfrom COVID-19 has led to and will continue to lead to negative economic and societal implications. With colleagues at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Developments (OECD) New Approaches to Economic Challenges Unit (NAEC), we have shownvia our Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiativethat Brain Capital drives economic empowerment, brain performance, social resilience, and emotional connection. Brain Capital is the underpinnings of economic growth and prosperity. It postulates that our brains are our greatest assets, and if we strategically invest in Brain Capital, the payoff is our countrys future, economy, innovation, wellbeing, and even democratic strength.
COVID-19 has additionally amplified a pre-existing mental health crisis across the world further harming Brain Capital. According to a recent scientific brief by the World Health Organization, in the first year of COVID-19, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25 percent. Multiple factors, including social isolation, loneliness, grief, financial worries, and more, converged during COVID-19 to cause unprecedented stress and mental health challenges and revealed existing health inequities. Further, youth have been disproportionately affected. Youth mental health issues were increasing well before the pandemic, but COVID-19 magnified and perpetuated these challenges. This led the United States Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, to issue a surgeon general advisory on the urgent need to address the nations youth mental health crisis. Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges and have previously included advisories on opiates and smoking. The recent surgeon generals advisory calls for increased investment and immediate responses to prevent youth mental health from becoming a second pandemic.
We urgently need innovation to address COVID-19s effects on Brain Capital.
Promoting and investing in youth Brain Capital is critical to building a resilient future. This includes not only addressing youth mental health, but also working to promote education and training of young people, which has suffered greatly during the COVID-19 era. According to a recent report by the International Labour Organization, 65 percent of young people reported having learned less since the beginning of the pandemic. Additionally, 38 percent of young people reported being uncertain of their future career prospects. If the education and training of young people are left unaddressed, this will perpetuate the mental health crisis and cause negative effects on Brain Capital for years to come. Indeed, it will lead to a generation lost from COVID-19 related educational disruptions, which could result in this generation losing $17 trillion in lifetime wages and impacting the future United States economy.
Addressing and reimagining workforce participation in the United States in the wake of COVID-19 is also critical to promoting Brain Capital. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021, spurred by COVID-19, ushering in the Great Resignation. Among workers who quit their job in 2021, the majority reported low pay, no opportunities for advancement, and feeling disrespected as the main reasons for leaving. These factors were especially felt by the low-income workforce. We must redesign and reimagine workforce participation. There is an urgent need for jobs that require brain and socio-emotional skills (e.g., the brain skills component of Brain Capital) but that do not necessarily require a college education. This would provide an important means to involve and eventually transition the low-skilled, low-income workforce into the labor markets of the future and into better quality jobsenhancing individual and collective Brain Capital. Such initiatives particularly hold promise for regions with high rates of deep desperation and pre-mature death and may help address lack of hope and promote wellbeing and increased life expectancy. We must invest in brains to combat Americas crisis of despair.
We urgently need innovation to address COVID-19s effects on Brain Capital. These innovations must span clinical care, neuroscience research, youth mental health, education, workforce participation, and more. To recover from the economic implications of COVID-19, we must prioritize and invest in the brain with a coordinated approach across sectors of government, civil society, and industry. Indeed, Brain Capital is the road to recovery and is necessary to build a more resilient future.
*Note: This article was adapted from a presentation of Eric Lenze, Professor and Incoming Chair of Psychiatry at Washington University of St Louis, to the U.S Congressional Neuroscience Caucus on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
A single dose of Evusheld given to non-hospitalised, unvaccinated patients experiencing mild to moderate COVID-19 led to a significant reduction in progression to more severe disease (i.e., hospitalisation) and mortality compared to those given placebo. These were the key findings from the the TACKLE study by a group of UK and US researchers.
Evusheld contains the two monoclonal antibodies, tixagevimab and cilgavimab, which simultaneously bind to distinct, non-overlapping epitopes on the spike protein receptor binding domain and are therefore able to neutralise COVID-19. It is administered as a single intra-muscular dose and in March 2022, the EMA granted a marketing authorisation for Evusheld for the prevention of COVID-19 in adults and adolescents from 12 years of age weighing at least 40kg before potential exposure to the virus.
The combination of monoclonal antibodies has been examined in TACKLE, which is an ongoing, Phase III randomised, double-blind trial conducted in 95 sites across the USA, Latin America, Europe and Japan. Included patients are adults (18 years and over) with a documented, laboratory confirmed PCR or antigen test, COVID-19 infection, at least 3 days before enrolment in the trial. An additional entry requirement is a score of > 1 but less than 4 on the World Health Organization (WHO) Clinical progression Scale.
For the study, all eligible participants were randomised 1:1 to a single dose of Evusheld (600mg, which consists of two consecutive doses of 300mg of each) or saline solution (which served as the placebo) on the first day of the trial. The primary outcome of the study was a composite endpoint of either severe COVID-19, defined by either the presence of pneumonia, hypoxaemia plus a WHO scale score of 5 and higher or all-cause mortality.
Single dose of Evusheld and COVID-19 outcomes
A total of 903 participants with mean age of 46.1 years (50% female) were enrolled and randomised to evusheld (452) or placebo. Just over half (52%) of participants were of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity with 62% being White and 4% Black or African American. A total of 89% of the entire cohort had at least one or more risk factors for severe COVID-19 including a body mass index > 30 (43%), hypertension (28%), current smokers (40%) and diabetes (12%).
The primary endpoint (severe COVID-19 or death) occurred in 4% of those receiving a single dose of Evusheld and in 9% of those given a placebo and this difference was significant (absolute risk reduction = 4.5%, 95% CI 1.1 8.0, p < 0.0001).
In terms of safety, adverse effects occurred in 29% of those given Evusheld and 36% of those using placebo and most were deemed to be of mild or moderate severity.
The authors concluded that a single dose of Evusheld was associated with a statistical and clinically meaningful reduction in both progression to more severe COVID-19 and death compared with placebo among unvaccinated adult patients.
CitationMontgomery H et al. Efficacy and safety of intramuscular administration of tixagevimabcilgavimab for early outpatient treatment of COVID-19 (TACKLE): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Lancet Respir Med 2022
Travel to the United States during Covid-19: What you need to know before you go The Mercury News
COVIDThe BA.4 and BA.5 variants have led to increased infections in South Africa and several European countries. The Associated Press
COVID-19 omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have rapidly increased their prevalence in New England over the past several weeks.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data shows that the subvariants first arrived in New England in mid-April, but started growing exponentially at the end of May.
The data shows that together, the subvariants accounted for about 6.5% of cases at the end of May, before growing to about 12.4% by the end of the first week of June. The subvariants then jumped to account for about 15.4% of cases the next week, and finally reached about 24% at the end of last week.
BA.2.12.1 is still the most prevalent variant in the region and nationally, accounting for 68.3% of infections in New England and 56% nationally, but its possible we could see BA.4 and BA.5 account for an increasing share of cases over the next few weeks, as in other regions of the country.
In an email to Boston.com Wednesday, David Hamer, a professor of global health at Boston University (BU), wrote that BA.4 and BA.5 have many of the same mutations that made the original omicron variant so concerning, but that they also have new mutations that may make them more transmissible.
Hamer said that they have a mutation that may make it easier for them to attach to human cells, and another which may make them better at evading immune responses.
Still, Hamer said, there is no evidence that these variants cause more severe disease, so they are not likely to increase hospitalization rates, except among people who have not been vaccinated or have not had a natural infection.
Matthew Fox, an epidemiologist at BU, agreed with Hamers assessment about transmissibility and the lack of evidence that these variants cause more severe illness, and said they do not seem to have a higher mortality rate than the original omicron variant.
If, however, this version is able to bypass immunity, we could see more infections than in the last wave, and that might lead to more hospitalizations just because the number of people infected is higher, he wrote to Boston.com in an email.
On Wednesday, a study from Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that these variants can evade immune responses better than previous variants.
The study found that the BA.4 and BA.5 variants were three times as resistant to neutralizing antibodies than BA.1 and BA.2, which are already much more resistant to neutralizing antibodies than the original COVID-19 virus.
Because of this, the researchers wrote, BA.4 and BA.5 could cause substantial surges even in populations with high vaccination rates and natural immunity to BA.1 and BA.2, though vaccination should still provide protection against severe disease.
Hamer said that based on this new information, he believes there could be a substantial rise in infections in New England this summer or in early fall.
It does cause some concern, Fox wrote. But its also a small sample, so I think we need to wait and see what happens on a population level.
All in all, he said, it is too early to tell what impact BA.4 and BA.5 will have as they grow in prevalence across New England.
Fox and Hamer said BA.4 and BA.5 have been observed in South Africa and several European countries so far. Hamer said these countries have experienced gradual increases in cases due to the new variants, but have not seen large waves of infections.
Fox added that infection rates are usually lower in the summer due to higher temperatures and people going outside more, but said theres really no way to know for sure.
I dont think there is cause for too much concern yet, butI think we should be preparing, he wrote. People should be thinking about what measures they are willing to take should infection rates go up.
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
The UKs National Health Service (NHS) has warned the public about a spate of fake messages, sent out as SMS text messages, fraudulently telling recipients that they have been exposed to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
In a tweet, the NHS said that it had seen reports of text messages that claimed to come from the NHS, telling recipients that they had been in close contact with someone who had a confirmed COVID-19 infection, and that they should order a testing kit.
So, what happens if you do make the mistake of clicking on the link in the bogus text message you have received?
The real NHS website is at nhs.uk, but obviously the scammers dont want you to go there.
Instead, the link sent to you by the scammers takes you to a lookalike website that pretends to belong to the NHS.
To the casual observer it looks very much like the real NHS website. Indeed, on a smartphone you may very well not notice that the domain you have visited is not nhs.uk.
This bogus website wants you to order a test kit, for which you will only have to pay 0.99 for postage.
The real NHS does not distribute free COVID-19 test kits anymore, so the notion that all you have to do to receive a free test is pay 99 pence postage should also ring alarm bells in the victims minds. However, if youve got this far through the scam, chances are that you will also in your panic to get yourself tested for the Omicron variant have forgotten that fact.
Of course, the website doesnt just want your money. It also wants your full name, address, date of birth, and other personal information. If you hand over this information you are unwittingly helping the fraudsters scam you further, by sharing your personal data. At some point in the future, this information could be used against you by a scammer to make them appear even more convincing.
The scammers are using a variety of different domains in their scam messages, many of which have only been created in the last few days.
In its warning the NHS references advice from the NCSC about spotting scams. One would imagine that the NHS is also reporting the scam websites to the NCSC so they can be shut down as quickly as possible, but of course opportunistic scammers will continue to create new domains, and send out more scam messages, for as long as they believe it will help them defraud innocent members of the public.
With so many scams reliant on the use of newly-created websites its a shame that giants like Apple and Google dont do more to warn users that they are clicking on a link to a website which you should probably be more skeptical about than one which has existed for years and years.
And no, it should go without saying, youre not going to receive a free COVID-19 testing kit through the post after handing over your personal information on one of these scam websites.
Editors Note: The opinions expressed in this and other guest author articles are solely those of the contributor, and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire, Inc.
