For the first time since May, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is predicting that the number of daily hospitalizations in the United States due to COVID-19 will increase.Currently, the seven-day average hospital admission rate in the US is nearly 6,000 people a day as of July 13, up more than 13 percent from last week.The new variant, named BA.5, is now estimated to account for more than half of all new COVID cases in the US, making up 65 percent of cases.The thing about BA.5 that is disconcerting is that it is able to escape some of the immune protection that you get from prior infection as well as vaccination,& Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the White House, told ABC News in an interview this week.It has a transmission advantage over the prior variants, which is the reason why we&re seeing an uptick in cases and in some areas even an increase in hospitalization,& he said.The good news is that vaccinated and boosted people, particularly those who receive the full component of the boosting, are generally pretty well protected against severe disease,& Fauci added.Fauci still encouraged mask-wearing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, despite mandates being relaxed across the country, including for air travel and public transportation, stating that &masks are still effective regardless of what the variant is.You can still protect yourself very well with a properly fitted, adequate mask,& he said.Fauci also discussed the new monkeypox outbreak with ABC News.
He emphasized that monkeypox, a disease caused by the monkeypox virus, is something that should be ''take[n] seriously,& adding that there are vaccines and antiviral medications available for those who meet eligibility criteria in some places to prevent and treat the disease.Fauci admitted that the more than 1,000 confirmed cases in the United States as of July 14 were likely an &undercount& during the interview with ABC News.&It is, in fact, spreading at a rate that we feel we must address with testing and with vaccinations,& he said.The post Fauci shares latest on COVID variant, monkeypox and mask-wearing first appeared on Ariana News.