It is an unfortunate truth—a second “wave” of COVID-19 cases are upon us, experts say. With cases spiking to 187,428 in a single day on November 19th, we have seen a 54% increase in cases within just the past 2 weeks. With it being almost 11 months after the first reported case (Jan. 20, 2020), the United States has adopted a gamut of policies and precautions, depending upon the legislation of each individual state. The legislation, more often than not, came in the form of shutting down businesses, social distancing, and the wearing of preventative face masks. Some of these policies continued, while some states loosened their lockdown periods. The brief optimism that spawned from a warm spring and summer was soon stifled when cases began to spike as people increasingly gathered indoors as a result of cooler weather across the U.S.. Some experts deduce that this second wave may also be a result of further apathy towards COVID itself.
As late as November 12th, Georgia has found itself in the “red zone” along with 41 other states. This means there are 101 or more cases per 100,000 population. Georgia is ranked 40th among the 42 total states. “The silent community spread that precedes and continues throughout surges can only be identified and interrupted through proactive and increased testing and surveillance, as universities have done with frequent (weekly) required testing,” says a White House Coronavirus Task Force Report. With over 433,000 cases and almost 9,000 deaths in Georgia alone, the increasing numbers reinforce the importance of early testing, social distancing, and decontamination of home and work environments.
Not only are people rightfully worried about their loved ones becoming infected with the virus, but some are worried about reinfection rates as well. Two factors play into this: the body’s initial immune response to the virus, and the virus’ mutation as it is transmitted. In rare cases, the immunological “memory” T-cells usually engaged in the body to fight off repeat-infections don’t entirely cover the mutated strain; the first case being a 33 year-old man from Hong Kong, who reported worse symptoms and further respiratory complications the second time getting infected. Experts say that because reinfection is so rare yet dangerous, we should all focus primarily on avoiding infection in the first place. So how can we do that?
Experts at Johns Hopkins medical have some advice for how to prepare yourself for this second wave. They encourage the continued wearing of face masks, the continued utilization of social distancing, and handwashing. All these things are vital in ensuring healthy interactions. They also encourage people to stay in touch with local health authorities, who can provide more information on whether COVID-19 cases start to increase in your area. Lastly, they highly encourage people to get tested if they feel any of the symptoms of COVID-19. This last piece of advice is paramount in slowing the spread of the virus and containing it as well as possible. We at Medformance have an abundance of resources for aiding in the disinfection of your home and workplace; as well as the only CLIA waved, EUA-authorized COVID antibody finger-prick test. We are here to keep you safe, happy, and healthy.
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