A new coronavirus variant combined with waning immunity, lax prevention measures, summer travel and large gatherings are among the factors driving the Chattanooga region's current COVID-19 surge, according to public health officials in Georgia.
Though the current COVID-19 wave is far smaller than the most severe surges historically, there were 33 COVID-19 patients in Hamilton County hospitals as of Monday, according to data from the Hamilton County Health Department. That's the most patients seen in local hospitals since February and a little over half as many patients as this time last year. Eight of the patients were under intensive care, according to the data.
The most significant spike of new hospitalizations in the region during the past week occurred in Chattooga and Gordon counties, which saw 33 new COVID-19 hospitalizations — representing a 74% increase over the prior week — according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated Monday.
Hamilton County saw 37 new COVID-19 admissions, a 48% increase over the prior week, according to the CDC.
The Health Department no longer tracks individual COVID-19 cases, but analyses of Chattanooga wastewater — which are used to monitor the presence of infection and track trends in the community — show coronavirus cases have been on the rise since early June and remained elevated during the past month.
Georgia public health officials attributed the case increase in part to the new EG.5 variant, nicknamed "Eris," which is now the dominant variant spreading across the U.S.
"It is responsible for about 17% of new COVID cases in the country and about 16% of new cases in Georgia," according to a Friday news release from the Georgia Department of Public Health. "Early data indicates Eris may be more easily transmissible than some other variants, but it does not appear to cause more severe disease. The CDC says the current COVID vaccine is effective against Eris, and Eris infections are picked up by COVID tests."
Elizabeth Forrester, technical director of the Chattanooga-based infectious disease testing lab Athena Esoterix, said Tuesday that the lab has seen a "big spike" in both COVID-19 testing and the percentage of positive tests during the past week.
Forrester said the team plans to conduct additional testing this week to determine the current prevalence of Eris and other coronavirus variants in the Chattanooga region.
Contact Elizabeth Fite at efite@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.