By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. What . The COVID-19 subvariant of Omicron, BA.5, is spreading quickly in the U.S. . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website. And it has been able to spread fast. ARs were consistently high across household contact and index patient age groups, including those aged 04 years. These newer subvariants have additional mutations in the spike protein allowing them to evade immunity, so even if you had COVID earlier this year, don't assume you're in the clear from getting it again. Here's what you need to know. The outdoors have always been a sanctuaryeven more so since the advent of the pandemic. * Persons self-reported their race (White, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander), ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino or non-Hispanic/Latino), and gender (male or female) from lists of options and had the opportunity to state another option if their race, ethnicity, or gender was not listed. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much California's winter COVID-19 surge intensified Wednesday, with new overall coronavirus cases likely tied to holiday gatherings spiking up, along with confirmed cases of the Omicron strain. Risk is additive. "The mutations of BA.5 impact its spike protein in part and result in some important 'upgrades' in the ability of the virus to infect humans more quickly and also attach to the lungs," Dr. Blaivas said. Lopez AS, Hill M, Antezano J, et al. ** An index patient with a confirmed COVID-19 case was the first person with a positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test result or antigen test result (through local or home testing) reported in a household. The New York Times reported that studies of the variant on mice and hamsters have shown that omicron is not . You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. Having a prior infection with another Omicron subvariant does provide some immunity against BA.4 and BA.5 but it's not absolute. With the global evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), for almost 2 years, various control strategies have been utilized around the world. For those hosting events, Majumder recommended decreasing the amount of attendees at gatherings, a move that can drastically reduce transmission. See the Interactive Home Ventilation Tool. It also depends on the specifics of your workplace. Of those with known SARS-CoV-2 infection history, eleven (6.1%) of 181 index patients and nine (4.7%) of 192 household contacts with confirmed or probable COVID-19 reported a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. Are we back to square one with the pandemic? Experts say outdoor transmission has always been a thingwith alpha, delta, omicron, and now BA.5. How Omicron spreads so fast is the question of the moment. Higher outdoor wind speeds on warmer days were associated with up to a 45% lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in social gatherings. While its less dangerous than being indoors when someone sneezes, theres still a risk of infection from a very contagious strain like BA.5. Health talked to Dr. J. Wes Ulm, MD, Ph.D. a physician-researcher and part of the Heroes of the COVID Crisis series, and Robert G. Lahita MD, Ph.D. ("Dr. Bob"), Director of the . Received a booster dose was defined as having received an additional dose after completion of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series before the index date. These findings are subject to at least six limitations. According to an Epidemiological Update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), "the current growth advantage for the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of concerncompared to the dominant variant BA.2 is probably due to their ability to evade immune protection against infection induced by prior infection and/or vaccination, particularly if this has waned over time." Health's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Similarly, the AR was lower among household contacts of index patients who ever wore a mask at home during their potentially infectious period (39.5%, 88 of 223) compared with those of index patients who never wore a mask at home (68.9%, 124 of 180) (p-value <0.01). That will reduce not only this coronavirus transmission but other respiratory and gastrointestinal pathogens, too. Without sequencing results for all household contact cases, it was not possible to confirm that transmission occurred from index patients to household contacts or that household contacts were infected with the same variant. It appears to be even more contagious than Omicron. But if you're not able to keep. In any community where transmission is very intense, I would say its best to be in small groups, Patel said. We used to say it would take about 15 minutes of close contact to catch the virus if around from someone who was infected. But the same factors that make indoor settings riskycrowded spaces, poor air circulation, the sharing of food and drinkcan also increase your chances of contracting COVID outside. Dr. Mallika Marshall explains: Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are highly transmissible, some say as transmissible as measles, which is considered the most infectious viral illness in humans. Since COVID-19 is transmitted through contact with respiratory fluids carrying the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus, a person can be exposed by an infected person coughing or speaking near them. Lane . Outdoor spaces, though they arent 100% risk-free, remain the safest environments to socialize in, according to Dr. Rohde. Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data. All Rights Reserved. The likelihood of catching Covid-19 outdoors is low but increases in crowded areas or at events where people are close together for long periods of time . Discovery Company. Omicron sublineages are still increasing and cause increased transmission and infect "You're never going to find that much virus in a small area that you touch," he said. Yet Omicron, the highly contagious variant known for slipping around some of our best defences, might be surviving longer on everyday objects than its early predecessor raising questions about which basic precautions to prevent surface-based transmission might still be warranted. Trends in disease severity and health care utilization during the early Omicron variant period compared with previous SARS-CoV-2 high transmission periodsUnited States, December 2020January 2022. Again, Id urge that if you are wearing a mask, wear an N95 or equivalent mask, because it will be your best chance of protecting against the very contagious BA.2 variant. The AR was lower among household contacts of index patients who isolated (41.2%, 99 of 240) compared with those of index patients who did not isolate (67.5%, 112 of 166) (p-value <0.01). And Eric Topol, MD . Durch Klicken auf Alle akzeptieren erklren Sie sich damit einverstanden, dass Yahoo und unsere Partner Ihre personenbezogenen Daten verarbeiten und Technologien wie Cookies nutzen, um personalisierte Anzeigen und Inhalte zu zeigen, zur Messung von Anzeigen und Inhalten, um mehr ber die Zielgruppe zu erfahren sowie fr die Entwicklung von Produkten. ", Lauren Pelley covers health and medical science for CBC News, including the global spread of infectious diseases, Canadian health policy, and pandemic preparedness. The protective measures we talked about early in the pandemic still work against Omicron. When asked about the new Hong Kong results, he said any findings based on the "same old techniques" in a laboratory don't change that, since figuring out transmission is about more than just how viruses survive within controlled settings. Omicron infection resulted in high ARs among household contacts in this investigation, particularly among those who lived with index patients who were not vaccinated or who did not practice prevention measures (isolating or ever wearing a mask at home). Vaccination status was not always verified, and the analysis did not account for potential variations in prevention practices (e.g., frequency of mask use). **** Case status of household contacts was unknown if the occurrence of COVID-19compatible symptoms was not known and if the contacts testing results were unknown. Jurisdictions identified persons who were considered potentially eligible for participation through obtaining laboratory line lists of persons who had sequence-confirmed Omicron (B.1.1.529 lineage and its sublineages) or whose sequencing results were pending. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. We take your privacy seriously. It again depends on whats going on in your community, what your medical situation is, and how much you want to keep avoiding Covid-19. Although outdoor settings are overall the safer option, when a virus is more contagious, it's more contagious in any setting. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Experts warn omicron variants can spread more easily outdoors; prior infections provide less immunit. Some people washed their mail or wore gloves to the grocery store, while policymakers cordoned off playgrounds and encouraged businesses to scrub every surface. Namely, we have vaccines and boosters, which protect very well against severe illness and also reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection. If your own risk tolerance is low, certain outdoor situations could call for masking up. Omicron transmission occurred in 124 (67.8%) of 183 households. *** Seven days was chosen for this analysis, because 75% of cases occurred 7 days after the index date. Its a nasty stomach bugand cases have been rising since August. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page. Department of Health and Human Services. A used mask is seen on beach at marine protected area located in St. Martin's Island, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on March 13. Transmission occurred within 67.8% (124 of 183) of households, and the overall AR among household contacts with known status was 52.7% (227 of 431) (Figure 2). Building off other recent research which showed Omicron's heavily-mutated spike protein is more stable than the ancestral strain, and their own previous findings on SARS-CoV-2's level of infectiousness on various surfaces, the Hong Kong team explored what would happen if droplets containing Omicron the BA.1 lineage, specifically were applied to surfaces like stainless steel, paper, and glass. Fully vaccinated was defined as completion of the primary vaccination series 2 weeks before the index date and stratified into completion <5 months or 5 months before the index date. Even if you cant take time off, you can still take care of yourself. If multiple factors below indicate higher transmission risk, you should consider adding more prevention actions. What exactly does a small group mean? Thats a personal decision that will differ from person to person. You can review and change the way we collect information below. Masks are still effective at protecting you against COVID-19 even if you're the only person wearing one. The more crowded an outdoors space is, the more it begins to mimic an indoor space in terms of our exposure to shared air.. In this investigation, a confirmed case in a household contact was defined as having received a positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test result or antigen test result 14 days after the index date (date of the index patients symptom onset or positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test result or antigen test result), and a probable case in a household contact was defined as the presence of COVID-19compatible symptoms during the same 14-day period but without a positive SARS-CoV-2 test confirmation. We are in the midst of another COVID-19 wave driven by the highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which have a mutation in the spike protein of the coronavirus that causes these variants to more easily attach to (and infect) people. More outdoor air can decrease the risk of transmission. Partially vaccinated was defined as having only 1 dose of a 2-dose series or completing the primary vaccination series <2 weeks before the index date. After conducting lab-based research, the team found Omicron "is more stable than the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 on different surfaces.". mmwrq@cdc.gov. Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data. Finally, this investigation occurred during a period when testing and sequencing capacity was strained and when many persons traveled and attended gatherings, increasing the possibility that household contacts had unknown SARS-CoV-2 exposures outside the home (6). Mohammad ShajahanAnadolu Agency/Getty Images, LinkedIn has officially entered its cringe era, and its working. If you are attending an outdoor gatheringeven when community levels are medium or lowyou should still be cautious about masking and social distancing, especially in large crowds. So some people may want to mask up in certain outdoor situations. To help us with these questions, I spoke with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. To Patel, for small group settings to be safe, people cant be shouting (COVID spreads more when people are singing or yelling), you must be able to maintain some distance from others, and everyone should be following public health measures like hand-washing. But being outside is still much, much safer than being indoors. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:14652. Roberts stressed that COVID spread outdoors is much less common than spread indoors, but nothing is perfect. Delta had a slightly higher reproductive rate of around 5.1. Based on the data from the Gauteng province alone, the Omicron variant transmissibility compared to SARS-CoV-2 ancestral and Delta variant were 100.3% and 36.5%, respectively. May 6, 2022. 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