Flu too? Alongside COVID, flu cases are rising in Mass. | Boston.com
CEID Faculty Dr. David Hamer shares his reaction to rising influenza cases in Massachusetts. “’Honestly I’m a little surprised because there’s still a lot of prevention measures people are using,’ said Dr. David Hamer, a professor of global health at Boston University, noting that many are still wearing masks, avoiding close contact in public spaces, […]
What happens to previous COVID-19 variants when a new one becomes dominant? | Fox 31 Colorado
CEID Faculty Dr. David Hamer discusses COVID-19 variants like alpha, delta, and omicron. “’Omicron just pushed delta to the side, just like delta pushed everything else to the side,’ Dr. Davidson Hamer, a professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University’s Schools of Public Health and Medicine, tells Nexstar.” Read the full article […]
Omicron Symptoms: Here’s What to Watch For After COVID Exposure | NBC 10 Boston
CEID Faculty Dr. Cassandra Pierre comments on the incubation period of omicron. “‘With recent variants, we’ve seen decreases in what we call the incubation period — the time between exposure and infection,’ Boston Medical Center’s Dr. Cassandra Pierre said. ‘What we’ve seen with omicron compared to the previous incubation time — which is seven days […]
Baker’s back in the hot seat | POLITICO
CEID Faculty Dr. David Hamer comments on what he thinks the state needs to be doing to address the Omicron wave. “[Dr. Hamer] said improving access to tests and higher-quality masks, like KN95s, is key. ‘Not everyone can afford to order this stuff on Amazon. We need to be connecting supply to people who need […]
Boston-area coronavirus wastewater data takes a plunge: ‘An encouraging sign’ as COVID cases surge | Boston Herald
CEID Faculty Dr. David Hamer was featured in the Boston Herald with an update on the COVID-19 wastewater tracker. “’Wow, look at that fall,’ Davidson Hamer, a Boston University specialist in infectious diseases, told the Herald as he refreshed the latest wastewater data on Tuesday. ‘It’s an encouraging sign,’ he added. ‘Maybe it could be […]
Greater Boston colleges prepare to welcome back students amid Omicron | WBUR
CEID Faculty Dr. David Hamer discusses safety measures that colleges and universities are taking against COVID-19. “The goal is to keep transmission under relative control, we have a lot more tools now between the vaccines, boosters, treatments of different kinds. All of these can help us control severity of disease — we do need to […]
Making sense of the COVID pandemic’s omicron phase | WBUR
CEID Founding Director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia talks about how we should measure the pandemic during the omicron phase. “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a single metric that we follow and say that’s the only one that we need to look at. I think all the metrics always give you information and eyes […]
Omicron Is Forcing Us to Rethink Mild COVID | The Atlantic
CEID Faculty Dr. Syra Madad points out reasons to avoid a large spike in omicron infections. “‘Better treatments for Omicron are on the horizon’, Syra Madad, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Harvard, told me…. ‘It’s a terrible time to unfortunately be hospitalized and not have these types of therapies available,’ Madad said.” Read the full article […]
New Omicron Studies Help Explain Why Variant Is Mild but Spreads Fast | Wall Street Journal
CEID Founding Director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia urges the public to take the appropriate precautions against COVID-19. “’At least during the surge you’re likely to see hospitalizations go up in absolute numbers, which is why it’s a public health concern, and requires all of us at least for the next six to eight weeks to take […]
Omicron Isn’t Mild for the Health-Care System | The Atlantic
CEID Faculty Dr. Syra Madad discusses hospital staffing shortages during the omicron wave. “Understaffed hospitals can hire travel nurses, but Omicron has spread so quickly that too many facilities ‘are pulling from the same labor pool—and if that pool is sick, where are the reinforcements?’ Syra Madad, an infectious-disease epidemiologist in New York, told me.” […]