As influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) have swiftly spread across the country this fall, overwhelming hospitals and their staff, Covid have not. In actuality, Covid-related deaths and hospitalizations have decreased over the past few months, despite the advent of novel omicron subvariants that are immune to earlier infections and vaccinations.
As per a report by NBC News, since August 31, when the seven-day average of daily Covid deaths was 571, Covid deaths have steadily decreased, according to NBC News data. On September 30, a month later, the number dropped to 475. By Halloween, an average of 365 people per day were dying from Covid.
As of 14 November, the number had decreased to 316. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are anticipated to release new statistics on Covid-related mortality, which will reveal that death rates began to drop in March 2022.
Doctors speculate that the encouraging trend of reducing death rates could be indicative of yet another new Covid phase. Fewer persons hospitalized with Covid indicate that fewer people are dying from the disease.
NBC News reports that the average number of Covid hospitalizations per day has reduced by 27.9% since August 28. Moreover, it appears that Covid is no longer sending the majority of patients to intensive care units.
Dr. Hugh Cassiere, head of critical care services at Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital, part of Northwell Health in New York City, stated that there had been no rise in the number of patients brought to the hospital with Covid-related diseases.
Cassiere stated that patients with Covid who were hospitalized in his ICU for unrelated medical reasons were later determined to be Covid-positive. “I’m not saying it’s gone, but Covid has turned into a coincidental disease,” he added.
Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle, attributes the drop in deaths and severe Covid cases to “baked-in immunity” resulting from immunization, prior infection, or a combination of both.
While Covid-related hospitalizations are not increasing at present, Gupta warns that this could change throughout the winter as immunity declines, particularly after a previous infection.
“If you received Covid six to four months ago, you will be less protected against hospitalization than if you were vaccinated,” Gupta explained. If you rely just on natural immunity, the duration and vigor of your protection will diminish far more rapidly.
In light of this, figures from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington suggest that Covid hospitalizations and deaths might rise again as early as mid-January, according to NBC News and MSNBC medical commentator Sanjay Gupta. In spite of the positive drop in Covid-related fatalities, another school of thought holds that Covid has merely mutated into a new form of lethal sickness.
Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lecturer at Harvard Medical School in Boston, stated the following: “Before everyone was vaccinated or infected, 80 to 90 percent of Covid appeared identical. They suffered from severe pneumonia. They were receiving respiratory assistance in the ICU.”
“Now,” he stated, “Covid fatalities are not the same. While ‘baked-in immunity’ may prevent the most severe infections, it is evident that Covid can continue to wreak havoc on the body long after the infection has passed.”
“Someone may have Covid and have a heart attack, and the heart attack would be labeled as the primary cause of death since that is what took them to the hospital,” Faust explained. However, he noted, “we will never know to what extent Covid caused that heart attack.”
