After three and a half years, most Americans are ready to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind them and have gone back to their pre-pandemic routines. For the most part, no one could blame them.

However, the COVID virus has not gone away and now in August 2023, hospitalizations to treat COVID have increased across the country, although not nearly at the level of other times during the last three years.

UPMC infectious disease specialist Dr. John Goldman appeared on The Spark Thursday and said,"We're seeing an increase in cases, but the absolute number of cases is still very low. It is nothing like the previous summers and it is night and day different than the previous winters...They are much less sick than they used to be. So, for example, it's unusual to see a COVID patient in our intensive care units."

Dr. Goldman indicated that the increase in cases isn't unusual,"What I have always expected is that this will turn into a disease that is essentially with us for the rest of our lives. But it will begin looking much more like a typical seasonal virus, something much closer to the flu. I do think we're probably going to see an increase in cases over the winter because we've seen increases in cases over the last previous winters, each previous winter. But I don't think that we're going to see the same kind of increase in hospitalizations or death."

Goldman was asked if COVID is seasonal why is it showing up in the summer,"It's been a hot summer and we have seen previous COVID surges, particularly in the South, particularly when it's hot or where it's hot, because people go inside because of air conditioning, because it's hot outside, they're spending less time outside, they go inside, they're packed closer together and the virus's, more efficiently transmit themselves."

Most of us can’t name the latest variant of the virus but it is a sub-variant of the Omicron variant that was widespread last year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that less than one-third of Americans are up-to-date with their COVID shots and that doesn't count a coming vaccine for the latest variants. Dr. Goldman said,"Up-to-date would really mean that you've gotten the latest bivalent vaccine, not the one that's coming out in the fall, but the one that is not the original strain. And thethe biggest difference in hospitalizations and mortality has been between people who are not vaccinated and those who have gotten the complete original series. There's always a little bit of extra protection with each booster, and there almost certainly will be a little bit more protection when you have the newest booster, which will be more like the variants that are actually circulating right now. However, the most important thing is to have a vaccine. That's where the mortality really starts to go down."

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