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Hopeful signs point to mild holiday COVID wave

A COVID-19 testing site at San Diego State University. Jan. 15, 2021.
Alexander Nguyen
/
KPBS
A COVID-19 testing site at San Diego State University. Jan. 15, 2021.

Deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 continue to fall across the country and there are more hopeful signs emerging in the near future.

This comes as a pair of new variants of concern — BN.1 and BQ.1.1 — are beginning to take hold across California and the United States.

The good news? Nations that have already contended with the new variants have not reported increases in hospitalizations as a result.

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As Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute explained, this emerging data combined with a relatively stable COVID-19 case rate in San Diego County could suggest a mild wave for the months ahead.

"If things continue as they are right now," Topol said, "We could be avoiding a significant wave, even though we have the holiday gatherings."

Despite these hopeful signs, Topol said masks are still an important tool for limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses like flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Earlier this week, the California Department of Health recorded its first death of a child under the age of five from RSV.

Topol joined Midday Edition on Wednesday with more on the latest COVID-19 news.

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.