March 17 COVID update: Key indicators of new variant’s impact; shakeups at White House; more

Staff reports | A new variant of the coronavirus is slowly gaining traction in Israel, leaving health experts to pay close attention to what they say could be key indicators of what the impacts could be around the world.

Israeli health officials are keeping an eye on the new variant — known as omicron BA.2 — thus far, little is known about it. According to early reports, the new variant of the coronavirus is similar in severity to the omicron variant we are familiar with. Folks are not more likely to be hospitalized than before, but infection rates may be similar. Vaccines remain the safest and most effective means of avoiding infection, according to health experts, but with vaccination rates dropping, COVID restrictions being lifted, and vaccine effectiveness diminishing over time, health experts fear a resurgence.

Meanwhile, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients announced Thursday he is leaving his position, effective next month. Zients has for more than a year led U.S. efforts to vaccinate Americans and manage the federal government’s response to coronavirus surges and shift to a new phase of the pandemic. Zients will be replaced by epidemiologist Ashish Jha, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, a regular guest across cable and network news throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, as they say…

Some news

For all the progress we’ve made in this pandemic (and there is a lot)

We still have important work to do to protect Americans’ lives and well being

So when @POTUS asked me to serve, I was honored to have the opportunityhttps://t.co/qMuf6Y4wOu
— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) March 17, 2022

“Dr. Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America, and a well known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence,” Biden said in a Thursday morning statement. “And as we enter a new moment in the pandemic — executing on my National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from COVID — Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job.”

Latest COVID-19 data

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control transitioned to weekly reporting of new COVID data this week, with Tuesday’s update being the first of weekly reports including data taken from March 12-15.

South Carolina health officials on Tuesday reported 986 total new cases of COVID-19, with 510 confirmed, and 145 new deaths, 46 of which were confirmed. Reports were taken between March 12-15. As of March 13, 249 COVID-19-positive individuals are hospitalized, 32.5% lower than last week. In addition, 27 COVID-19-positive individuals are ventilated, 27% lower than last week.

With 44,453 test results reported between March 12-15, 3.8% were confirmed positive.