I’ll bet you know someone who has COVID-19 right now—and it might not even be their first bout with SARS-CoV-2. Reinfections are common in the age of Omicron, and may become more so now that BA.5 is the dominant variant in the U.S. BA.5 is highly transmissible and contains mutations that allow it to get around some of the immune defenses gained from vaccination or previous illness, which means we should brace for a wave of breakthroughs and reinfections.
In most cases, fortunately, reinfections are mild. Even if the body’s immune blockades aren’t always enough to stop infection, they are typically very good at preventing severe disease and death.
But the bad news, experts told me for my new story on the subject, is that the virus can still cause damage even if it doesn’t make you very ill at first. COVID-19 has been linked to complications including organ damage, heart disease, neurological conditions, diabetes, and more. By recent estimates, roughly 20% of people who catch it also go on to develop Long COVID, a chronic condition that can come with debilitating symptoms such as exhaustion, chronic pain, and cognitive dysfunction. Those risks don’t disappear after your first brush with the virus, even if your second case of COVID-19 is milder.
Experts emphasized that you shouldn’t live in fear of the virus—but it is important to understand the risks that come with repeat bouts of COVID-19 and use them as motivation to avoid getting infected. After more than two years of pandemic living, we know how to do that. Stay up-to-date on vaccinations, wear a high-quality mask in public indoor places, socialize outdoors as much as possible, and use rapid tests before gatherings with people outside of your household.
More than 559.4 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 6.36 million people have died. On July 13, there were more than 1.45 million new cases and 4,213 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 10 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 89.1 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 1.02 million people have died. On July 13, more than 203,370 new cases were reported and 1,781 new deaths were confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of July 14. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
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WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a new COVID-19 vaccine for adults. The shot, made by Novavax, uses traditional protein-based technology, unlike those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which were the first widely accessible vaccines to use mRNA. Regulators hope Novavax’s two-dose vaccine could entice some holdouts who are nervous about trying mRNA technology. Before it can be used, it needs signoff from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decision that is expected next week.
Global case counts rose for the fifth week in a row, with 5.7 million new diagnoses recorded worldwide last week, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Death counts have remained fairly stable but are still high worldwide; nearly 10,000 were reported last week. In a briefing earlier this week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said rising infection rates should worry governments around the world and may warrant a return to precautions like masking.
Two drugs that are sometimes used to treat COVID-19 have not been proven to be effective, WHO advisers said today. The antidepressant fluvoxamine and gout medication colchicine gained attention during the pandemic because they showed promise as possible COVID-19 treatments, but the WHO experts advised against their use for people with mild disease and said there’s inadequate evidence to prove they help people in that population. The panel didn’t give advice for people with severe disease, saying that there isn’t enough information to do so.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Mandy Oaklander.
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