5 things to know about covid this summer

Some parts of the country are reporting an increase in cases of covid-19 as the U.S. enters the summer months. Pennsylvania saw a 14.7% increase in emergency room visits with covid for the week ending June 15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While wastewater covid-19 data has not revealed a spike in Alle­gheny County, area doctors advise to prepare for the possibility of a summer covid wave.

Here’s what you need to know about covid this summer.

Are more people getting covid now?

Pittsburgh-based Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said recent weeks have seen some level of uptick nationally.

“More tests are turning positive, and more people are going to the ER for covid visits,” he said. “At least anecdotally in Western Pennsylvania, there have been more people testing positive, at least from talking to my colleagues. Just like in the first waves of covid back in 2020, it’s not everybody all at once.”

Because people now take home covid tests more often than PCR tests, tracking increasingly relies on hospitalizations, deaths and wastewater testing, Adalja noted.

“This is a transition to monitoring an endemic respiratory disease, where we’re not trying to make sure we have an accurate tally of every case,” he said.

“It’s a good point to remember what we know about the prevalence of the virus in the community — not as much as we used to,” said Dr. Graham Snyder, medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at UPMC. “People are more likely to have mild illness if they’ve been vaccinated or exposed. We’re less likely to test and less likely to report. We don’t know what the total number of all cases are.”

At Independence Health System, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carol Fox says there has not been much of an uptick in hospitalizations.

“We continue to track our cases and watch them closely, both in the northern and the southern part of our service areas, and we really haven’t seen anything yet. You never know, but so far so good,” she said.

“I think it’s much more common for individuals who become ill at home, they’re not going to a doctor or a lab to become tested. They’re able to do home test,” she added. “Our window into knowing exactly what’s going on is a little more cloudy than it was in the past.”

Is this an expected pattern?

Summer isn’t usually the busy time for respiratory viruses, but covid spikes in summer are not particularly unusual.

“We tend to be a lot more social in the summer,” said Dr. Brian Lamb, internal medicine physician at Allegheny Health Network. “There’s been a rise in over 30 different states and territories in America, just in the last couple weeks.”

“We’ve seen these summer increases in activity with covid last summer and the summer before that,” Adalja said. “It’s not anything new. I think all of us in the field expected that to occur.”

What variants are causing a spike?

Variants referred to as FLiRT variants, KP.2 and KP.3, are increasing in prevalence right now.

“What we’ve seen is that the virus is being selected or being pressured, kind of by Darwinian forces, to continue to evolve, so there’s always going to be new variants,” Adalja noted.

Previously, JN.1 was the most dominant variant, but KP.2 and KP.3 have surged to a higher prevalence, he said.

“One thing about KP.3, it does seem to spread a little bit easier than the other ones,” Lamb said. “It’s not causing more severe illness or anything like that. It just happens to spread a little easier.”

When should you get vaccinated?

An updated covid vaccine is expected in the fall. It likely will target the KP.2 variant.

“Our public health officials have adapted the vaccine strategy as the pandemic has evolved over a couple years and are using a seasonal vaccine strategy,” Snyder said. “They are already at work coordinating with vaccine manufacturers to have a 2024-25 seasonal covid vaccine.”

If you did not get a covid vaccine last fall, especially if you’re high risk, it’s not too late to get one, Lamb noted.

“Any shot will get you more protection than no shot,” he said. “If you are high risk, think about getting your vaccine now, with the idea that we probably will have a new vaccine that comes out in the fall. It’s not too late. It will still give you some protection, especially since it’s been a while.”

Covid vaccines may not always prevent people from getting sick entirely, but they are good at preventing serious illness, Snyder noted.

“The covid vaccines so far have been absolutely spectacular at preventing serious complications,” he said. “The intent is to do the best it can to keep us from getting sick at all.”

What should you do if you get covid, and how should you avoid it?

If you do end up getting covid, stay well-hydrated and stay rested, Fox said.

“If you’re experiencing difficulty breathing, you should get in touch with your health care provider, and they can advise you on next steps,” she said. “If individuals are feeling extremely weak, where you can’t manage your activities of daily living, those kinds of things, you should seek additional assistance.”

Make sure to let a health care provider know if you have covid and are seeking treatment, she added.

“They can make arrangements so that they can see you safely, but you want to let them know,” Fox said.

The same advice remains true for avoiding catching or spreading covid: Stay home if you’re feeling sick, and wear a mask, especially if you are in a large group.

“(Covid) can still cause serious problems. In combination with preparing your immune system, to prevent serious complications in particular, it’s also important to avoid being exposed,” Snyder said.

Masks can be especially helpful if you plan to enjoy summer gatherings or events, Lamb noted. Socializing outside can also help with airflow, and washing your hands is always a good idea.

“Keep some in your car, keep some on hand. You never know if you’re going to need it,” he said. “If you’re having a wedding that you want to go to next week, and you go to a party the week before, I’d probably wear a mask. If you’ve got an important event coming up, you don’t want to miss that because you got sick at a minor event.”