Officials concerned with post-holiday surge as COVID, RSV cases rise
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Face masks are now back in some area schools. Students in Philadelphia and Camden are covering up for two weeks. Lots of holiday gatherings and travel had people crowded together inside where respiratory illnesses easily spread.
Now, officials are trying to prevent a big surge of infections.
The first day of classes in the new year has Philadelphia students back in masks. Following the holidays, officials are concerned about a spike in respiratory infections such as COVID, flu, and RSV.
"I anticipate that we are going to have a post-holiday surge," Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. William Schaffner said.
The CDC flu tracking map shows influenza is very high and high in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and COVID is making a comeback in New Jersey.
The numbers are double from where we were, for instance, a few weeks ago," Infection Control Chief Virtua Health Dr. Martin Topiel said. "This is probably the most we've seen in close to a year."
Topiel says the spike in COVID cases is happening mainly among the elderly and people who are immune compromised.
"We still haven't had fully boostered population with the bivalent vaccine to protect us against the omicron viruses," Topiel said. "So it's just a setup for us to have this surge."
Now there's a new omicron subvariant XBB.1.5. It currently accounts for more than 40% of cases. Nearly doubling from 22% on Christmas Eve.
"It seems to be that it's going to become prominent," Topiel said. "And unfortunately, I think that's going to allow COVID to propagate over January.
"We have a few different factors coming together," Topiel said. "We certainly have all the remnants of New Year's parties and gatherings. But we're also now seeing a new variant start to develop that seems to have a higher transmission rate than even previous omicron viruses."
That has a growing number of doctors recommending masks in crowded indoor locations. They can reduce the risk of transmission by about 70% and vaccinations are the other important way to stay healthy.
Doctors say it's still not too late to get the flu or COVID shot and you can get them at the same time.