Undercounted COVID-19 Cases Cause Concern for Healthcare Facilities

The Omicron offshoot BA.5 became the dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States last week. However, COVID-19 case metrics are being severely undercounted which may lead to a lack of preparation and safety protocol as well as a limited understanding of the spread and prevention of this new variant in healthcare facilities.  

For cleaning professionals, especially those in healthcare facilities, these numbers are crucial to preparing accordingly and having staff take preventative measures where it counts. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a research center at the University of Washington, suggests that actual infection numbers in the first week of July have been about seven times higher than reported cases—which have averaged about 107,000 each day over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

The most unsettling aspect of this new variant is its ability to thwart past viable vaccines and acclimations. The results of this variant being capable of side-stepping antibodies generated by vaccines and prior infection will be “escalating numbers of cases and more hospitalizations,” Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, said on CNNi Monday. “One good thing is it doesn’t appear to be accompanied by the ICU admissions and the deaths as previous variants, but this is definitely concerning.” 

For now, cleaning industry leaders must consider utilizing prior COVID-19 information to their benefit to take preventative measures before the new variant becomes a safety hazard they can’t control.