Return of COVID: A new surge of COVID has caused hospitalizations to rise since mid-July affecting students and their families

Nationwide COVID hospitalizations increased by 8.7% during the week of Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, following a steady rise since mid-July, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three omicron sub-variants — EG.5, XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16 — are causing the escalation of cases.

Along with other states, Kansas has stopped updating the number of infected citizens on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment website since May 31, deeming the updates to be unneeded, according to the American Medical Association. Though the number of infected people has decreased since last winter, spring and early summer, there’s been a new surge of COVID cases in the past few weeks, according to Medical Director for the Infection Control and Prevention Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center Dr. Dana Hawinkson.

“Currently our hospitals — local hospitals and here at KU Hospital — are equipped to handle this current surge or coming surge,” Hawkinson said. “We anticipate it won’t be as great as what we’ve seen in the past couple of years, but that’s just what we anticipate. We’re always ready to take patients as we need to.”

Hawkinson believes that the reason for this surge is due to a number of factors: groups are staying inside more due to high summer temperatures, families traveled right before school started and students have been back to school for about a month. Small classroom settings are likely adding to the increase in cases since COVID is spread by airborne particles and droplets, which are more easily transferred in densely populated spaces.

Senior John Mendy’s father tested positive for COVID on Sept. 4, and his symptoms included coughing, difference in taste and difficulty doing physical activity. However, he was able to continue going on daily runs.

“Honestly it didn’t seem as bad,” Mendy said. “During the original COVID pandemic, symptoms were really serious for people, but this time my dad was still going out on runs every day, so it wasn’t a big hindrance to his day.”

Mendy had some mild symptoms himself, like a runny nose and trouble breathing, but tested negative on an at-home COVID test. The rest of his family — Mendy’s two sisters and mother — had no symptoms.

Freshman Esmae Bond had a similar experience with the virus. She believes she caught the new strain at a freshmen party over Labor Day weekend. She’s heard of five fellow party-goers who also tested positive — all quarantined before returning to school.

“I stayed in my room and tried to stay away from my mom, stepdad and siblings,” Bond said. “I was the only one with it. They all tested negative.”

What started out as a stuffy nose and bad headache turned into a sore throat and mild headache over the span of a week. Bond tested positive on Sept. 4 and then returned to school on Sept. 11 after quarantining.

“Schoolwork was my biggest worry because a lot of the work was done in class, so there wasn’t much for me to get done at home,” Bond said. “But my teachers have been helping me a lot with getting caught up and giving me more time to finish stuff.”

This lower severity of the virus is due to over 80% of U.S. citizens already being vaccinated, receiving booster shots or experiencing infection and reinfection, according to Hawkinson. Antiviral medicines like Paxlovid — an antiviral pill that can be taken at home — are also available to help keep high-risk patients from hospitalization. 

Though these new variants seem to have minor effects, Hawkinson discourages those with symptoms from going out in public and wants people to understand that individuals should feel comfortable wearing a mask — especially in schools where someone may be immunocompromised.

“Number one is if you’re sick or have symptoms, you really shouldn’t be going to work or school,” Hawkinson said. “I know that’s hard for most people, but you should absolutely try to get tested either at an urgent care, a physician’s office or home testing as well.”

Local pharmacies and grocery stores including CVS, Walgreens, Target and Hy-Vee continue to provide in-person testing as well as over-the-counter COVID tests.