The author’s guest room at the Goring Hotel in Belgravia, London. People who contracted SARS-CoV-2 are at least four times more likely risk to later suffer from chronic fatigue than those who hadn’t had Covid.
Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,435th day.
THE LEDE
We React to the Potential Change in the CDC’s Covid Isolation Guidelines
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is discussing possible changes to its isolation recommendations for individuals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. One change could be reducing or altering the recommended number of days during which those with the virus should isolate, similar to what health officials in California and Oregon have recently done.
The problem I have with any potential changes is this: The general public lacks consideration when it comes to being careful when coughing and sneezing and even breathing near others.
In general, except with close friends and family, an individual won’t know what the health history is of people standing near them in a lift, on a train, or at an airport, or sitting near them in a conference room or auditorium. In fact, it doesn’t have to be that near them per se as we learnt in early 2020 how far droplets and aerosols can travel when helped by fans and air conditioners.
It’s quite true that we have by and large learnt to live with Covid, but for most people in the community – but not everybody – an infection is something that one can shrug off. The vulnerable among us don’t always have their identifying beanies on and lots of people look like the picture of health, even though their immune systems may be compromised for one of many dozens of reasons, ranging from taking transplant medications to having HIV.
Regardless of whether there are changes now or in the future, it’s important for common sense to prevail. We’ve told our colleagues in our offices for the past few decades, “if you are sick or feel you might be sick, stay home.” (This policy was doubly reinforced when a company receptionist, Patricia, had the flu and came in anyway. Two days later, she was still in the office but no one else was.)
Powering through illness and disease is a terrible idea, not only for the patient but for everyone around him. Coming in coughing and sneezing, with eyes watering, is not a good look. Perhaps we should even make a slogan or meme out of that. Regardless as to whether it’s SARS-CoV-2, RSV, the flu, a gastrointestinal bug, or the common cold, stay home. We all worked at home for at least a year or two, a few extra days won’t kill you now.
When the person in question is feeling much better and is asymptomatic, then and only then is it time to return to the office. And for good measure, don a face mask for the first few days back in the office. Now that’s a good look.
In news we cover today , people who had had SARS-CoV-2 are 4 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue; no, the CDC has not changed its isolation guidelines; and New York City’s Vital Statistics report indicates a modest improvement in life expectancy over 2021.
LONG COVID
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that people who contracted SARS-CoV-2 are at least four times more likely risk to later suffer from chronic fatigue than those who hadn’t had Covid.
“Our data indicate that COVID-19 is associated with a significant increase in new fatigue diagnoses,” according to the study, which was published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The study, entitled Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Children and Adults in 15 U.S. Communities, 2021and published Wednesday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, examined electronic health records of more than 4,500 patients in the state of Washington who had SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 and 2021 and compared them to patients who hadn’t had COVID.
The report, which was prepared by over 30 researchers, found the risk for chronic fatigue was more than four times greater in those who had the illness.
UNITED STATES
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t announced any changes to its isolation recommendations for individuals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 and it may not, despite some reports to the contrary.
No final decision on whether to change the guidance has been made, and the review is part of a process to remain current with the risk and spread of disease, an officials said.
New York City officials said that life expectancy in the Big Apple had risen but acknowledged that it continued to remain lower than pre-pandemic levels.
The city’s Vital Statistics Report showed that people born in New York in 2021 would have an average life expectancy of 80.7 years, a figure higher than that of 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, when that number was 78.
Life expectancy in New York City continues to be limited by multiple diseases and quality of life issues, some preventable, the city’s health commissioner, Ashwin Vasan, said in releasing the report. Notably, the report showed an increase in drug abuse-related deaths. Vasan said that city officials aim to improve overall quality of life so that life expectancy will reach 83 years by the end of the current decade.
GLOBAL STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Wednesday, February 14.
As of Wednesday at press time, the world has recorded 703.2 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.05 million in the last 24 hours, and 6.98 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 674 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.01 million in the past 24 hours.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls as well as the occasional downward or upward adjustment as corrections to case figures warrant.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Wednesday at press time is 22,180,331, an increase of 13,000 in the past 24 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 22,144,400, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,931, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 17 months.
Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Wednesday, recorded 111.15 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.2 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and a reported death toll of 533,466.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July 2022, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 709,601, has recorded 38.37 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are South Korea, with 34.57 million cases, as number six; Japan, with 33.8 million cases placing it in the number seven slot; and Italy, with 26.71 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.89 million, and Russia, with 23.93 million, as nine and ten respectively.
CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE
In the United States, in the week ending February 2, 2024, the test positivity rate was, based on data released on February 9, 2024 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 10%, and the trend in test positivity is -0.6% in the most recent week. Meanwhile, the percentage of emergency department visits that were diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 was 1.8%, and the trend in emergency department visits is -10.8%.
The number of people admitted to hospital in the United States due to SARS-CoV-2 in the same 7-day period was 20,772, a figure that is down 10% over the past 7-day period. Meanwhile, the percentage of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 3.1%, a figure that is down 6.1% in the same period.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Wednesday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 5,992 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 32.7% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.
In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.
Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.
The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org
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