Okay, so it seems like everyone I know has come down with COVID this summer – even the people known as NOVIDs (never had COVID before). I’m been lucky so far. What do I need to know to protect myself during the current surge? You probably know all the strategies to stay safe.
But maybe you’re suffering from COVID amnesia — perhaps the trauma of the early years of the pandemic has wiped out your memory of basic precautions like mask-wearing and hand-washing. Meanwhile, others have become COVID-indifferent, says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
They’re living in a bubble, thinking yeah, well, whatever, que sera sera — but it won’t happen to me. Then came the strong summer surge of 2024 in the U.S.
and many other places. “ New waves of infection have been registered in the Americas, Europe and the western Pacific,” the U.N.
reported this month. And, adds Schaffner, while getting the virus is a mere annoyance for many, for others, especially older adults and people with underlying health conditions, the consequences can be dire. COVID can still make them pretty sick, land them in the hospital and result in long COVID.
And the virus can prove fatal. This summer in the U.S.
, there have been 400 to 600 deaths a week linked to COVID-19. Perhaps that is why, for the first time in the history of our Coronavirus FAQ series, doctors have been emailing us and asking us to remind peo.