Summer travel is helping to exacerbate the COVID pandemic in California and other parts of the country.
Reports of Democratic National Convention attendees testing positive for COVID-19 are growing. At least a dozen people from California — delegates, political strategists and news reporters — said they tested positive after the DNC ended in Chicago last week.
Democratic strategist Tracy Austin, who contracted Covid while attending the convention, told the Times: “It was a wonderful time, but last week the DNCC stood for the Democratic National Covid Convention.”
The next big test of rising Covid-19 cases is just around the corner.
Doctors will be watching closely to see if the school reopening season and Labor Day holiday could cause a surge in cases even more. Last week, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said some data suggested new coronavirus infections had leveled off in parts of the country. But a slowdown in the summer surge in cases won't be apparent until there are several weeks of sustained declines — which hasn't happened yet.
Packed airports and large indoor events have been linked to a surge in the spread of the coronavirus, and travel records have been broken this summer. The Transportation Security Administration said on June 23 it screened the most passengers in a single day since the agency was formed: 2.99 million. Airports in Southern California have also reported big increases in passenger numbers.
Many DNC events took place indoors, where the risk of infection was highest for large groups.
“That can happen when 25,000 people gather in an arena, hotel and shuttle buses for four days, no matter the occasion,” said Robin Swanson, a spokesperson for the California Democratic Party. “But the biggest takeaway from our convention is the enthusiasm across the country to elect Democrats.”
Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, said her first thought as a physician watching the DNC was, “Oh, no, hardly anyone is wearing a mask.”
He said he remembers thinking, “This is probably going to lead to a lot of COVID cases.
“You get a lot of people together in an indoor area who are talking, laughing and yelling, which is actually a more efficient way to spread COVID,” Hudson said. “Between all of that … exposure time, of course, we're definitely going to see COVID.”
Even though masks have fallen out of fashion, they remain an effective tool to help prevent COVID-19, along with avoiding sick people, spending more time outdoors or in well-ventilated areas, washing or sanitizing your hands frequently, and staying up to date on vaccinations.
“When you're traveling, and you're going into an indoor area with a lot of people, you really should be wearing a mask to reduce your risk of being COVID-positive,” Hudson said.
“If you're on a plane, if you're at the airport, these are the times when you really need to make sure you're wearing a mask,” he said.
Updated COVID-19 vaccinations for the 2024-25 season are expected to be available as early as this week, and will be available to all locations sometime in September.
There are several reasons why this summer’s COVID wave has been surprisingly strong.
One of these is the persistent emergence of hyperinfectious coronavirus subvariants. In the spring, a few subvariants collectively called FLiRT, including KP.2, started a mid-year wave. These were followed by even more infectious successor subvariants — KP.3 (nicknamed FLuQE, pronounced “fluke”) — and the latest, KP.3.1.1 (nicknamed deFLuQE, pronounced “dee-fluke”).
“In the latest sub-variant, KP.3.1.1, the particular variation that emerged in this mutation was slightly different from what people had seen with either natural immunity or with the vaccinations that we have available,” Hudson said.
“Because of this, it was much easier to get into a population where people’s natural and vaccine-induced immunity was at the lowest levels,” Hudson said, noting that many people have been around a year or more since their last vaccination or their last COVID-19 illness.
There are now 26 states, including California, where COVID-19 cases are “increasing” or “likely to increase.” That number is down from 44 states six weeks ago, according to the CDC.
The rate of positive coronavirus tests in California continues to rise. In the week ending Aug. 19, 14.4% of reported tests were positive. That's higher than the peaks seen last summer and winter, and up from about 11.5% a month ago.
Overall, coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater have largely held steady in recent weeks but remain at some of the highest levels this season.
How to protect yourself?
- If you're sick, get tested — and get tested daily. Sometimes rapid tests take longer to come back positive after illness begins. You could still have COVID even if the initial test is negative. Consider getting tested again every day for up to five days after cough and cold symptoms start, Hudson said. A positive test can help you isolate yourself sooner and take measures to limit the spread of the disease.
- Plan to take Paxlovid if you get sick. Paxlovid is an antiviral medication, taken by people at risk of severe COVID-19 who have mild to moderate symptoms, to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. There are also other anti-COVID medications, such as molnupiravir, which is also taken orally, and remdesivir, which is administered intravenously.
- People who have moderately or severely weakened immune systems may also be given a drug called pemivibrant, brand name Pemgarda. This drug, given through a vein in a medical facility over an hour, helps prevent COVID-19 before a person is exposed to the virus, but it does not replace a vaccine.
- Wearing a mask, especially on a crowded flight or other indoor spaces, can help reduce the risk of infection.
- The C.D.C. says people should stay away from others for at least 24 hours, until their symptoms have resolved and they no longer have a fever (and they're not taking fever-reducing medication). The agency recommends taking additional precautions for up to five days — like wearing a well-fitting mask and continuing to get tested for COVID in case of a viral rebound — to prevent others from getting sick.
- In addition to the CDC guidance, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health also recommends testing yourself using a rapid test and getting a negative result before leaving isolation. The agency recommends wearing a mask around other people for 10 days after you feel sick, or after you have your first positive COVID test if you don't have symptoms. You can take off the mask earlier if you have two successive negative COVID tests taken at least one day apart. The agency also suggests staying away from the elderly and immunocompromised people for 10 days after you feel sick.
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In general, tips such as these also reduce the risk of coronavirus infection: keeping distance from other people, increasing ventilation by opening windows, turning on air purifiers, avoiding exposure to people, and maintaining increased hygiene: washing and sanitizing hands frequently, cleaning frequently touched surfaces, and covering mouths when coughing and sneezing.
Additional travel tips from the C.D.C.
- Make sure you have all your routine vaccinations; they protect against infectious diseases, such as measles, which can spread quickly in a group of unvaccinated people. Many diseases prevented by routine vaccinations are not common in the United States, but are still common in other countries.
- Stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines and get the seasonal flu vaccine. In the US, the CDC recommends getting COVID and flu vaccines in September or October.
- Pack a travel health kit with everything you might need, especially those that might be hard to find at your destination. Include prescription and over-the-counter medications and carry enough to last you through your entire trip, plus extras in case your trip is delayed. Depending on your destination, you may also want to pack a mask, insect repellent, sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher), aloe, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, water disinfection tablets, and your health insurance card.
Mehta reported from Chicago and Lin from San Francisco.