Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Aug 30, 2024 23:49:34 GMT
Covering Your Health: COVID surging in Acadiana - Published Aug 30, 2024
LAFAYETTE, La. (KADN) — The Labor Day holiday weekend comes as we're seeing a rise in new COVID cases reported in Acadiana.
We're just entering COVID season, and August has seen an uptick in cases. But first, let's review the year to date.
Know that COVID has never really gone away, and we continue to have cases throughout the year. The majority of these tend to be mild, and treatment is the same as any mild upper respiratory illness. Things get better on their own. This year, the return to work recommendations were revised so people can return to work sooner.
Now, that takes us to testing. This really isn't necessary for mild cases. So, most of this goes untested, and we underestimate activity. Currently, to get reliable data, we test wastewater samples.
This allows us to test a very large area quickly. And, we track hospitalizations due to COVID. This is linked to hospital billing data, so it's easy to collect.
So, how are things looking? Let's first analyze wastewater samples. Our area is seeing a high amount of COVID activity, with over 80% of the samples testing positive.
Now, let's examine hospitalizations for more serious illnesses. Currently, there is a spike from earlier this month, but things are trending down.
Now let's compare that to the previous year. Overall, hospitalizations are down, and August appears to be back to baseline levels.
Finally, remember that November typically marks the beginning of COVID season and activity should be picking up soon.
LAFAYETTE, La. (KADN) — The Labor Day holiday weekend comes as we're seeing a rise in new COVID cases reported in Acadiana.
We're just entering COVID season, and August has seen an uptick in cases. But first, let's review the year to date.
Know that COVID has never really gone away, and we continue to have cases throughout the year. The majority of these tend to be mild, and treatment is the same as any mild upper respiratory illness. Things get better on their own. This year, the return to work recommendations were revised so people can return to work sooner.
Now, that takes us to testing. This really isn't necessary for mild cases. So, most of this goes untested, and we underestimate activity. Currently, to get reliable data, we test wastewater samples.
This allows us to test a very large area quickly. And, we track hospitalizations due to COVID. This is linked to hospital billing data, so it's easy to collect.
So, how are things looking? Let's first analyze wastewater samples. Our area is seeing a high amount of COVID activity, with over 80% of the samples testing positive.
Now, let's examine hospitalizations for more serious illnesses. Currently, there is a spike from earlier this month, but things are trending down.
Now let's compare that to the previous year. Overall, hospitalizations are down, and August appears to be back to baseline levels.
Finally, remember that November typically marks the beginning of COVID season and activity should be picking up soon.