CHARLOTTE, N.C. — COVID-19 trends in the state are starting to tick back up again.
All of the counties in the WCNC Charlotte viewing area are now back in the Centers for Disease Control’s medium COVID-19 community level. Doctors said it’s because of the latest omicron subvariant that’s become dominant across the country.
The latest data shows, that in Mecklenburg County, there has been a slight increase in positive cases and emergency room visits. For now, BA.5 makes up about 40% of the cases sequenced.
According to the CDC, nationwide, the two subvariants made up 80% of all new COVID-19 cases in the country at the end of last week, and hospitalizations have doubled since May.
In North Carolina, the number of people admitted to the hospital is slowly increasing, too, but doctors are saying BA.5 isn’t causing more severe disease.
“The most at risk are the ones who have been most at risk for hospitalization and death," Dr. Katie Passaretti with Atrium Health said. "Individuals that are unvaccinated, multiple medical problems, weakened immune system."
However, the subvariant is better at escaping immunity.
“People with prior infection, even with BA.1 or BA.2, are likely still at risk for BA.4 and BA.5,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
Because of that, doctors expect to see more people who are vaccinated testing positive with mild cases.
“The vaccines still work,” Passaretti said. “It doesn’t mean we won’t see increases in mild infection. The other thing I would say is, the vaccines work, and especially if you’re boosted, that provides more protection against severe disease.”
And as the virus continues to mutate, doctors expect to see more variants emerge.
In the spring, COVID-19 trends appeared to be moving into the endemic phase. Passaretti said the expectation is it will settle into a seasonal pattern like the flu but that it isn’t fully endemic yet.
“Anticipation is that the fall-winter season may give us kind of one last larger surge, so I think we need to see what happens over the next couple of months before fully endemic but certainly some sights of moving in the right direction,” Passaretti said.
In other parts of the world, BA.2.75, an omicron subvariant is spreading.
“It does have some concerning features from what we know so far," Passaretti said. "We have not seen that variant, at this time, take off and cause substantial spread really in the U.S., and in our area, BA.5 is the primary one causing our current issues."
Because of the increase in cases and hospitalizations right now, doctors are recommending people in the area stay up to date on vaccinations and boosters and consider wearing a mask in certain settings.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions reporting on and engaging the community around the problems and solutions as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.