MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:341346. Roberts stressed that COVID spread outdoors is much less common than spread indoors, but nothing is perfect. it all depends on the context, the space and the type of activity. There isnt a tried-and-true rule. Here's what you need to know. Persons with sequence-confirmed Omicron variant infections during November 2021February 2022 were identified from four U.S. jurisdictions (Chicago, Illinois; Connecticut; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Utah) and contacted by telephone to assess eligibility of the household to participate in the investigation. A household was eligible if the index patient did not live in a congregate setting and did live with at least one other person for most of their potentially infectious period, defined as 2 days before through 10 days after the index date (the date of the index patients positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test result or antigen test result or symptom onset, whichever occurred first). In this investigation, a confirmed case in a household contact was defined as having received a positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test result or antigen test result 14 days after the index date (date of the index patients symptom onset or positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test result or antigen test result), and a probable case in a household contact was defined as the presence of COVID-19compatible symptoms during the same 14-day period but without a positive SARS-CoV-2 test confirmation. You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. Fully vaccinated was defined as completion of the primary vaccination series 2 weeks before the index date and stratified into completion <5 months or 5 months before the index date. Being outside would be lower exposure risk than being indoors, even with good ventilation and filtration; both of those options would be lower risk than being indoors with poor ventilation or filtration. However, some of these children may have been hospitalized with Covid but not for Covid. This study aims to explore the relationship between the doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines received and SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in the real-world setting, so as to preliminarily evaluate the protective effect induced by COVID-19 vaccination. As the United States navigates a third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, cases are rising modestly in the Northeast, Philadelphia has reinstituted an indoor mask mandate and some colleges are requiring masks during the final days of the spring semester. Will BA.2 Cause Another COVID Wave in the U.S.? The small sample size, especially for certain stratum-specific ARs, may limit overall generalizability of the results. But the likelihood of transmission grew by 6% for every five weeks . URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
But as we head into offices, schools and public spaces, there are some things we can control like masking and others that are not in our control, such as whether our offices have improved ventilation. That put COVID-19 among the least transmissible human diseases. Lets say you work in a well-ventilated office, everyone around you is vaccinated, and you are well-distanced from the next person. What exactly does a small group mean? . Discovery Company. No. And at this stage of the pandemic, we have to find ways to do things that are meaningful to us. You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. The questions below are written in past tense to help you assess the likelihood that you were infected when you were around a person with COVID-19. Even small quantities of the virus floating around could infect you if you are not wearing a mask, said Dr. Janak Patel, director of the Division of Infectious Disease and Immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, adding that this could be the case for certain outdoor settings, too a situation that was generally considered OK for the past two-plus years of the pandemic. When Should You Test (and Possibly Retest) After Being Exposed to COVID-19? Households with high transmission or with more attention to public health measures may have been more likely to participate. (Of course, football games have been postponed this season because of COVID outbreaks, but the study's authors believe that players were more likely spreading it in locker rooms and other shared indoor spaces.). If you are generally healthy and fully vaccinated and boosted, your chance of severe illness from Covid-19 is very low. Is BA.2 so contagious that it could transmit there? Upon taking a closer look at the new subvariant, scientists discovered that BA.5 has mutations in the spike protein that may allow it to evade the immune systems first line of defenseantibodiesraising the likelihood that itll cause a new wave of infections and reinfections, especially in people with low or waning immunity. part 56; 42 U.S.C. Upgrading one's mask is especially important in the face of omicron. Partially vaccinated was defined as having only 1 dose of a 2-dose series or completing the primary vaccination series <2 weeks before the index date. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties. What This Means For You. You would want to have a higher threshold for caution depending on your familys medical situation. We take your privacy seriously. First, this investigation used a convenience sample of persons with sequence-confirmed Omicron infections, and participation in this investigation was voluntary. Some persons who were fully vaccinated had unknown dates for completion of their primary vaccination series. Wind speeds of less than 5.5 miles per hour (mph) seemed to . As for indoor activities outside of homemask up, even if your trips are brief, she recommended: Its more possible than ever to catch COVID in passing. mmwrq@cdc.gov. This activity was reviewed by CDC and was conducted consistent with applicable federal law and CDC policy.. Ad Choices. All this to say your protection outdoors isnt what it was in 2020and it may be time to begin thinking more critically about outdoor gatherings. Its a nasty stomach bugand cases have been rising since August. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:17314. BA.5 is just one of the latest subvariants to come from the original Omicron lineage, Michael Blaivas, MD, chief medical officer at Anavasi Diagnostics, told Health. The likelihood of catching Covid-19 outdoors is low but increases in crowded areas or at events where people are close together for long periods of time . There are several ways this can happen: Droplets or aerosols. Thats a personal decision that will differ from person to person. Data were collected and managed using REDCap (version 11.1.8; Vanderbilt University) and analyzed using R (version 4.0.3; R Foundation). You should wear a mask if its impossible to create distance (ideally a well-fitted one, like a KN95) and take a COVID test before you go out, Patel said. Slightly less transmissible were the 1918 pandemic strain of flu, which had an estimated R0 of 2, as does Ebola. So if you find yourself worrying about not being able to distance yourself in a crowded outdoor situation with people of unknown vaccination status, slip a mask on. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Why Are There So Many Omicron SubvariantsAnd What Can They Tell Us About the Future of the Pandemic? Received a booster dose was defined as having received an additional dose after completion of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series before the index date. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Not only does it keep your cheeks warm, but who wants to take their gloves off to fuss with a mask in sub-freezing temps? Testing prior to getting together with others tells people if they are infectious and need to avoid the gathering. Despite Omicron's rapid spread, the good news is that COVID-19 strategies like vaccination, masking, and social distancing could slow its transmission. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties. If it was unclear who within the household was the index patient (e.g., if multiple persons developed COVID-19compatible symptoms in the household on the same day or had the same SARS-CoV-2 exposure) or if household contacts had confirmed or probable cases and were known to have a SARS-CoV-2 exposure to someone other than the index patient, the household was excluded from analyses. Transmission dynamics of COVID-19 outbreaks associated with child care facilitiesSalt Lake City, Utah, AprilJuly 2020. appreciated. Washington, DC: US Travel Association; 2021. Being outside would be lower exposure risk than being indoors, even with good ventilation and filtration; both of those options would be lower risk than being indoors with poor ventilation or filtration. New studies suggest that BA.4 and BA.5, currently sweeping the U.S. and countries around the globe, have a growth advantage over BA.2 similar to the growth advantage BA.2 had over BA.1. But if you're not able to keep. Results: Five identified studies found a low proportion of reported global SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred outdoors (<10%) and the odds of indoor transmission was very high compared to outdoors (18.7 times; 95% confidence interval, 6.0-57.9). When an . Experts say staying outdoors for dinners during the holiday may help reduce transmissions. The median index patient age was 37 years (IQR=2354 years). Monthly travel data report. Of course, omicron is the most transmissible variant yet. It appears to be even more contagious than Omicron. cases are rising modestly in the Northeast, Philadelphia has reinstituted an indoor mask mandate, BA.2 is a subvariant of the Omicron variant. The volume of droplets used in the lab research five microlitres might sound small, but it's "actually huge compared to droplets we usually spew out," she said. BOSTON -- As Omicron cases are sweeping the nation, some experts are warning that being outdoors may not provide as much protection as before. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. Arinjay Banerjee, a virologist working with the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, echoed that. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the subvariant is causing approximately 65% of the countrys COVID-19 cases at the time of publication. The outdoors have always been a sanctuaryeven more so since the advent of the pandemic. Fr nhere Informationen zur Nutzung Ihrer Daten lesen Sie bitte unsere Datenschutzerklrung und Cookie-Richtlinie. * Persons self-reported their race (White, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander), ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino or non-Hispanic/Latino), and gender (male or female) from lists of options and had the opportunity to state another option if their race, ethnicity, or gender was not listed. Similarly, the AR was lower among household contacts of index patients who ever wore a mask at home during their potentially infectious period (39.5%, 88 of 223) compared with those of index patients who never wore a mask at home (68.9%, 124 of 180) (p-value <0.01). For those hosting events, Majumder recommended decreasing the amount of attendees at gatherings, a move that can drastically reduce transmission. Dr. Gerald Evans, chair of the division of infectious diseases at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., agreed that alongside other personal protections like mask-wearing and vaccinations, basic hand hygiene remains a smart way to ward off this virus. If you're immunocompromised yourself, Lighter adds, wear a face mask indoors or in a particularly . What Do Epidemiologists Think? Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information| Ad Choices ** Persons provided retrospective information about any SARS-CoV-2 testing that they chose and were able to perform. Did you encounter any technical issues? SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) Variant Transmission Within Households Four U.S. Jurisdictions, November 2021February 2022. The same tried-and-true measures that have been encouraged since 2020washing your hands often, wearing a high-quality mask, testing regularly, and staying up to date with boostersstill work to curb the spread of COVID-19. It's also important to say that outdoor gatherings were never completely risk-freethey were just less risky. Paxlovid Is Super Promising. The median interval between index date and date of interview was 24 days (IQR=1729 days). Here, experts discuss just how contagious BA.5 isand how you can go the extra step to protect yourself, even during outdoor activities this summer. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Outdoor social gatherings are very safe, and certainly lower risk than the equivalent setting indoors. Subanalyses were conducted to examine potential secondary transmission (as opposed to all household transmission); the interval was calculated for households of two persons (index patient and another household contact), and ARs were calculated after restricting the case definition to cases identified 7 days*** after the index date. Received a booster dose was defined as having received an additional dose after completion of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series before the index date. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. Masks, vaccination, social distancing, testing and hand washing all play a role, too. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. But there is increased risk as we continue to deal with a more transmissible virus strain. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. The other/multiple races category included American Indian or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, another race specified by the person not in the provided list, or multiple races. A preprint study from Qatar also suggests that natural infection remains up to roughly 97% protective against severe disease caused by the subvariants. The original Wuhan strain of COVID-19 had a reproductive ratealso known as an R0 or R-naught valueof around 3.3, meaning that each infected person infected another 3.3 people, on average. And should we skip large indoor events again? For me, my area, in Baltimore City, is in a green or low-risk area for Covid-19 transmission, according to the CDC. These are all reasonable decisions depending on how you think about your own risk. / CBS Boston. "It can happen outside," says Dr. Don Milton, an infectious disease aerobiologist at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. hide caption. Outdoors Lower Risk Well-ventilated indoors Moderate Risk Poorly ventilated indoors Higher Risk If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Klicken Sie auf Einstellungen verwalten um weitere Informationen zu erhalten und Ihre Einstellungen zu verwalten. CDC twenty four seven. "From a virus standpoint, there's no indication that omicron is behaving differently [in outdoor settings]," says Dr. Preeti Malani, an infectious disease professor at the University of Michigan who co-authored an editorial on the research on football teams. "Our findings imply that (Omicron) has an increased likelihood to be transmitted by the fomite route," the researchers concluded. According to an Epidemiological Update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), "the current growth advantage for the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of concerncompared to the dominant variant BA.2 is probably due to their ability to evade immune protection against infection induced by prior infection and/or vaccination, particularly if this has waned over time." For some people, a tented wedding is outdoors. Biometrics 1988;44:104960. Household contacts were defined as any persons who spent one or more overnights in the residence with the index patient during their potentially infectious period. Dr. Rohde says nothing has fundamentally changed after omicron, except for peoples general attitudes about the pandemic. After conducting lab-based research, the team found Omicron "is more stable than the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 on different surfaces.". The COVID Public Health Emergency Is Ending Soon. All Rights Reserved. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page. The CDC has excellent guidelines to help you make sure your mask fits properly. Fully vaccinated was defined as completion of the primary vaccination series 2 weeks before the index date and stratified into completion <5 months or 5 months before the index date. Jurisdictions identified persons who were considered potentially eligible for participation through obtaining laboratory line lists of persons who had sequence-confirmed Omicron (B.1.1.529 lineage and its sublineages) or whose sequencing results were pending. "If you are young and healthy or fully immunized, BA.5 may still make you feel pretty rotten for a while and some people can get very sick from it, so know your risks.". 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