Coronavirus cases fall, new variants emerge
The week of Sept. 25 saw 91 reported coronavirus cases among USC students, faculty and staff — marking the first time this semester that the weekly positive cases dropped below 100. The number is a 19.4% decrease from the 113 cases reported the previous week.
“We were over 500 at the start of the year, so that’s good news,” said Chief Student Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman in a briefing Tuesday with the Daily Trojan. “While the case numbers are dropping, we want to make sure that that’s not actually related to people not testing and rather just accepting their symptoms.”
Trends at the University continue to follow those in Los Angeles County, where the weekly Monday peak fell 9.6% to 1363 cases Sept. 26, from 1508 a week prior.
“While cases are dropping, they’re not actually as low as they were at previous low periods,” Van Orman said. “We’re continuing with this baseline level of transmission. That’s just something we need to watch.”
The University continues to test wastewater from residential facilities for coronavirus and notifies students of any detections. On Tuesday, students living in Parkside Arts and Humanities Residential College received an email alerting them of coronavirus detected in wastewater, and were advised to get tested within 24 hours.
“While testing provides information about the presence of viral particles, this only indicates further testing, screening and diagnosis may be recommended,” read the email, which was obtained and confirmed by the Daily Trojan. “Positive results may be due to individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, are still shedding virus particles, but are no longer infectious.”
In the meantime, Van Orman encouraged students to get tested and submit a contact tracing form via MySHR if they develop any cold or respiratory symptoms.
Van Orman also addressed the several new omicron-derived subvariants, namely BA.2.75.2 and BQ.1, which, according to headlines printed over the weekend, could contribute to a winter coronavirus wave.
“Emergence of new variants remain[s] a cause for concern,” Van Orman said. “We don’t know yet if any of these new variants that are emerging are going to cause the situation to change. But … after two and a half years, [we] have consistently seen that new variants have emerged and have caused significant increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.”
She noted that as of yet, there are no cases of these new variants in the United States. BQ.1 is growing prevalent in the United Kingdom and some European countries, while BA.2.75 variants are appearing in India.
“It is still a very active concern,” Van Orman said of new variants emerging, “Particularly as we move into the winter, where we have an increase in indoor activities and people just being indoors that increase[s] transmission.”
Student Health is reporting two or three influenza cases a week, but Van Orman raised concern that cases are appearing much earlier than expected, and people “have probably not had influenza for a few years.”
“Influenza, even in someone who’s relatively young and healthy, is a very serious illness associated with … many symptoms,” Van Orman said. “Many people with influenza are out of class for almost a week. They don’t feel well for two to three weeks. So getting your flu shot, for students, is really critical in terms of not interrupting your academic progress with an influenza illness.”
Updated immunizations against the coronavirus and influenza have both been available through Student Health as of September, but are not required by the University. In a Universitywide email sent Sept. 29, Student Health encouraged students to get vaccinated by Nov. 1, “especially if you are at higher risk for severe disease because of age or underlying health conditions.” The announcement was in contrast to last fall, when Student Health announced that all students living and attending classes on campus must complete influenza vaccination by Nov. 1, 2021.
Van Orman said the requirement was part of an “exceptional year,” wherein twin outbreaks of coronavirus and influenza left communities at risk. The removal of the requirement for this year was motivated primarily by high vaccination rates, logistical difficulties in tracking additional immunizations and aligning policy with other higher education institutions across the country.
“Many [students and employees] would now have had to have five vaccines. It becomes increasingly challenging to track that as an employer and as a university,” Van Orman said. “Because so much of our community now has that primary series and has their booster, we know that the protection we’re getting from community transmission is probably pretty significant, and that we really now are looking at individuals’ protection.”
Van Orman said Student Health is now focusing on educating individuals who otherwise “are not interested in getting a booster” and encouraging them to get vaccinated through events such as a Fall Vax Event prevention clinic offering both bivalent boosters and influenza vaccines.