Philly COVID cases are on a slight uptick, a reminder that the disease is still part of daily life

Philadelphia is seeing a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases, but the city’s top health official says the rise is nothing like the major spikes in previous years when COVID variants caused thousands of new cases a day.

“In absolute numbers, there is a little bit of an increase. But it’s coming from a very, very low level of cases,” said Cheryl Bettigole, Philadelphia’s health commissioner. “Most people are not getting very sick with it, but as we all know, that doesn’t mean no one gets very sick from it, and it doesn’t mean we don’t have to pay attention.”

Nationwide, health officials have also noticed a small rise in cases. The New York Times reported last week that cases had been rising for about four weeks, with the largest increases in the South and Northeast, according to data collected from wastewater monitoring.

A newer COVID-19 variant, EG5, is behind about 17% of new cases in the country, Bettigole said, and is one of several variants related to the omicron strain that sickened thousands in January 2022. But none of those variants are more severe than others and “nothing is taking off at a very rapid rate,” she said.

In Pennsylvania as a whole, a weekly count of new hospitalizations related to COVID increased from 171 on July 1 to 284 on Aug 5, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Philadelphia saw one new hospital admission for COVID the week of July 2, six the week of July 30, and one the week of Aug. 6.

In suburban Montgomery County, health officials saw a slight increase in the percentage of visits to emergency departments for COVID, from 13% of all visits in May to 17% in August.

“I think we’re now at the stage where we’re reminded that COVID is going to be with us forever,” said Richard Lorraine, the medical director of Montgomery County’s public health office. “With vaccinations and natural immunity occurring, people are still getting it, but they’re not getting as sick.”

He said he had “a little bit of concern” about the recent rise in cases, but that admissions to intensive care and deaths related to COVID are rare: “We’ve had near record-low death numbers in the last few weeks,” he said.

Delaware County has also seen small increases in urgent care and hospital visits for COVID-19 symptoms and diagnoses, county health department spokesperson Matt Rankin wrote in an email. In Chester County, public health director Jeanne Franklin has also seen a small rise in cases that she described as “nothing really to write home about” and no increase hospitalizations or deaths.

Hospital admissions and deaths related to COVID are largely how health officials track the spread of the virus since the federal public health emergency ended in May.

“We’re at a stage with COVID-19 that we don’t need to know about everyone in the city who has COVID,” Bettigole said. “We care about more severe complications — are people ending up in hospital, are they dying?”

Bettigole said data from one of the city’s wastewater collection points, in Southwest Philadelphia, had indicated an uptick in cases, but no other areas had reported a similar rise, so the city is rechecking that data. Since Southwest Philadelphia includes Philadelphia International Airport, increased COVID levels in wastewater there might show that more people passing through the airport are infected, Bettigole said.

Still, health officials say that a rise in cases is a good opportunity to remind residents that COVID-19 is still a part of daily life — and can still be harmful to vulnerable populations like people with compromised immune systems and the elderly.

And longer-lasting symptoms of COVID can still present in some people who contract the illness, Lorraine said: “As long as we’re dealing with COVID, it’s going to be a different topic than just a regular old cold.”

Rankin, the Delaware County health department spokesperson, said the county is encouraging residents to spend time outside and consider hosting outdoor gatherings to lessen the risk of spreading COVID. “COVID-19 is still good at adapting and finding ways into our lives,” he wrote in an e-mail.

People who are sick should stay home. And those who are running low on COVID-19 rapid tests can still get tests for free at Philadelphia’s five health resource hubs. People who have expired rapid tests at home may still be able to use them as well: The Food and Drug Administration keeps a running list of tests with expiration dates that have been extended.

Lorraine, who is also a practicing physician, said that he has seen more COVID patients lately who complain of gastrointestinal symptoms like an upset stomach, diarrhea, and nausea. “People have a picture in their heads of a typical COVID illness where someone has a lot of coughing and congestion, but there are many other symptoms compatible with a diagnosis of COVID,” he said.

People who do contract COVID who are at a higher risk of serious illness should consider using Paxlovid or another antiviral medication. “They want to start right away with that, so it doesn’t get more severe,” Bettigole said. “Sometimes, people think it’s mild, and then it develops into a pneumonia.”

Those who haven’t gotten any COVID booster vaccines should consider getting one now, Bettigole said. And when new COVID booster vaccines are released this fall, people who’ve already received boosters should consider getting the new shot just like they’d do with a flu vaccine, which is also reformulated every year to protect against different variants, Bettigole said.