Rise in Covid cases in summer: are we facing a new wave?

What is the reason for the rebound in cases?

“As it happens throughout the year, now in the summer we have another specific increase, because if you compare the incidence rates with another period of the year – for example, March – then now many more cases have been reported.”, confirms Patricia Guillemprofessor at the Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the European University. “We also have to take into account that These reported cases do not translate into more people being hospitalized.“.

Currently, people hospitalized for Covid usually have other pathologies or comorbidities: these are elderly people and patients whose immune systems are weakened for other reasons. “This is a highly contagious disease that continues to create many problems, especially in the most susceptible people,” the expert emphasizes.

Among the reasons for the summer recovery increased social contacts during this time, with increased travel and significant changes in the usual social circle. Late spring and early summer marked the graduation season for preschool, primary, secondary and university students, during which crowds of people gather. To this we must add that summer brings large outdoor gatherings and is a time when people often go out to dine on terraces, where they also come into contact with many people. Summer music festivals, often crowded, are another possible source of transmission.

Covid is often equated with the flu, but they are two respiratory infections with distinct characteristics. Both the flu virus and coronavirus are highly transmissible in winter, but the pathogen that causes Covid also causes significant outbreaks in summer.“The coronavirus is becoming increasingly resilient”says Guillem. “And this is a virus that like be transmitted, multiply in different organisms, and the more clusters, the greater the possibility of transmission.”

In most people, it does not cause serious symptoms.However, mild symptoms mean that when people don’t realise they have Covid and that it is not the same as a cold, “they don’t take preventative measures and act out, spreading the disease even further.”

COVID-19 symptoms

Pneumonia, which was the biggest source of concern when the pandemic hit in 2020, is now very rare, “but they are there,” says Guillem. Another of the virus’s typical symptoms, loss of smell, is also not noticeable at this time. “Right now, The most common clinical symptoms are respiratory, but mild.– the expert sums up.

However, it is advisable not to let down our guard, since for vulnerable people, both the elderly and those with chronic pathologies such as hypertension, diabetes or asthma, Covid can complicate the clinical condition.

Today the most common symptoms are:

• Nasal congestion.
  
• Cough.
  
• Sore throat.
  
• Fever, usually mild.
  
• Fatigue.
  
• Sneezing.
  
• Headache.
  
• Muscle pain.

There is no cure ad hoc for these demonstrationsbut you can use the same ones as for a cold, “always practicing responsible self-medication”: antihistamines, anti-inflammatory drugs…

Recommendations for controlling the transmission of coronavirus

Given the current rise in Covid cases, Guillem believes that we must all be “more aware that we must resume those measures that we spoke about so clearly during the pandemic, which in many cases the population, due to the lack of routine, has abandoned.” This is, above all, about hygiene measures to avoid transmission of infection.

He also advises getting tested for coronavirus “at the first symptoms.” If you test positive for an antigen, “you should isolate yourself from other people and wear a mask.” If Covid cases are detected in the workplace“Everyone should wear a mask to avoid transmitting the virus, and those affected can work remotely,” provided that such an opportunity exists.