The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week that levels of coronavirus in wastewater have been determined to be high or very high in 26 states, but the nation’s response to the pandemic has evolved significantly in recent years, so it can be difficult to determine the best way to stay safe. Here’s what you need to know.
What are the current CDC guidelines?
If you experience symptoms of a respiratory virus such as coronavirus, The CDC recommends people stay home and isolate until their overall symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.
For the next five days, CDC recommends taking additional precautions, including wearing a mask, improving air circulation, physical distancing, and testing. The CDC also recommends taking these precautions if coronavirus is spreading widely in the community.
The CDC says keeping up to date on coronavirus vaccines “significantly reduces your risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. The current vaccines offer some protection against the newest variants, and updated vaccines are expected to be available in the late summer or fall.
What specific advice are medical professionals giving to older adults?
While doctors are seeing a significant decline in hospitalizations due to COVID-19, “older adults remain at highest risk” and “may still become seriously ill,” Tara Vijayan, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health Department, said in an email, noting that taking antiviral medications early and getting vaccinated can reduce the risk.
If older adults test positive, Vijayan recommends they consider taking Paxlovid, the drug President Biden took on Wednesday, or molnupiravir, which may have a similar effect.
Vijayan said if older people want to protect themselves, it’s reasonable for them to consider wearing masks indoors, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces, but she stressed that close family members are “by far the most common source of infection.”
Vijayan urges elderly relatives to get tested if they show any signs of upper respiratory tract infection and to stay away from their elderly family members until they are no longer contagious, usually 10 days after the onset of symptoms.
She also encouraged seniors to get the second dose of the current coronavirus vaccine if they haven’t already, and to get the updated vaccine when it becomes available.
What are the current coronavirus variants and how prevalent are they?
Most of the recent cases have been caused by new variants called FLiRT and LB.1, which are more effective than earlier variants at infecting people who have some immunity from vaccines or past infection. The new variants do not appear to cause more severe infections or deaths.
“There are minimal, if any, clinical differences,” Priti Malani, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Michigan, told The Washington Post earlier this month.
