Doctors say rapidly spreading BA.5 variant of COVID-19 better at evading immunity, vaccinations

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise with a new strain of the virus spreading rapidly.

The BA.5 variant is sweeping through communities, including Louisville. Right now, local doctors said they're focused on the hospitalization rate from the variant.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows an average of 6,085 new hospital admissions in the United States over the last week. That's up 8.2% from the week before.

Case counts are also increasing across the country, but doctors said they aren't seeing a corresponding or alarming bump in hospitalizations yet.

Many people are using at-home COVID-19 tests and aren't reporting the results, which means it's also likely cases are much higher than the numbers available.

It appears BA.5, which is a subvariant of omicron, is also better at evading immunity from prior infections and vaccinations.

"I think what we're seeing that's different is it used to be if you had COVID, you could say hey, I'm probably good for three or four months, at least before I have to worry about it, and it does seem to be evading that where you're seeing reinfections much quicker," Dr. Eric Yazel, Clark County Health officer, said.

Indiana tracks how many people get COVID-19 more than once, and over the past week more than 21% of new cases were reinfections. It's something doctors are watching closely because of long-COVID risks.

"Each time that happens, you're at higher risk of having longer symptoms and you know, some of the studies that are coming out now that we're starting to get you know, more data as time goes on are really concerning in that area," Yazel said.

With a new school year coming up, Yazel said people can still take advantage of all the tools available to stay healthy. He said getting vaccinated, boosted and following other precautions may not help people avoid COVID altogether at this point, but will likely keep them from getting very sick.

According to Indiana's COVID-19 dashboard, there are currently 1,723 active cases of COVID-19 in the state, up 141 cases from the week before. Those numbers don't include cases confirmed with at-home tests that were not reported.

In southern Indiana, state data shows 354 reported cases in Harrison County, or 87 cases per 10,000 residents with a seven-day case average of 16. In Floyd County, there are 637 reported cases of the virus, or 81 cases per 10,000 residents with a seven-day case average of 23. In Clark County, there are 1,169 reported cases of COVID-19, 99 per 10,000 residents, with a seven-day case average of 45.

According to the CDC, the community level is high in all three of those counties. The agency recommends residents in high-level areas wear a mask when indoors in public, stay up-to-date with vaccinations and to get tested if they're showing symptoms.

In Kentucky, only 14 of the state's 120 counties are seeing low community levels. The rest of the state is experiencing medium to high levels, according to the state's community levels map, which is updated weekly based on new CDC data.

Kentucky's positivity rate for the week is currently 17.70%. The positivity rate is based on a seven-day rolling average. The state's data includes cases of COVID-19 reported to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

A weekly summary of COVID-19 in Kentucky shows as of Monday there were 12,798 new cases of the virus in the state. A weekly report, current as of Monday, shows 587 Kentuckians were hospitalized with the virus, 78 of whom were in an intensive care unit and 18 on ventilators.

In Jefferson County, data from the health department shows a 15% positivity rate and an incidence rate of 42.8, which is in the high level, according to a weekly incidence rate map. That means there are over 25 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents.