Senior News Line: COVID-19 cases rising once again

“It’s gone! There is no more COVID-19!”

“It’s completely gone!”

Well, no.

I heard this exchange in the store today and had to step in. I’m probably the only one who is still, after six years, tracking local cases of COVID-19 on a weekly basis.

And the truth, as I explained to the two ladies in the store, is that COVID-19 is still out there.

As of July 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 18 states, declining or likely declining in three states, and not changing in 28 states. Previous estimates can be found on data.cdc.gov.

It’s not likely that a worldwide pandemic will explode again like it did in 2020. After all, so many people have taken the vaccines and still have a tiny bit of immunity left over from that.

The keyword there, however, is tiny. And that immunity is waning more by the month.

In other words, it is possible to get COVID-19 now, despite prior shots and despite there not being a huge number of cases at the moment.

While we don’t need to monitor our potential exposure every single minute like we did when COVID-19 was raging around the world, we do need to acknowledge that over 800,000 seniors died of COVID-19 — and take care of ourselves.

Some steps:

• Identify which stores are likely to have test kits in stock should you need to replenish your supply.

• Wear a mask if you’re going to be in a crowd.

• Ask your doctor whether you should have a booster.

• Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer.

According to the World Health Organization, in the four weeks ending June 28 there have been 168 COVID-19 deaths around the world — 143 of them were here in the United States. See data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths.