CDC director tests positive for Covid-19

CDC manager Rochelle Walensky has tested affirmative for Covid-19, according to a connection issued by the bureau connected Saturday.

Walensky is “up to day with her vaccines,” the connection said, and is experiencing mild symptoms. She is isolating astatine home, per her agency’s guidance, which recommends quarantining for astatine slightest 5 days aft investigating positive.

The director’s lawsuit comes amid concerns among Biden medication officials and nationalist wellness experts alike astir a pugnacious Covid-19 wintertime ahead, with hospitalizations already connected the emergence successful Europe. The U.S. has not yet seen a important uptick successful cases, hospitalizations oregon deaths yet, according to CDC data, though astir 360 radical proceed to dice each time from the virus.

Getting a real-time snapshot of Covid-19 transmission successful the state volition beryllium harder than successful erstwhile winters. Earlier this month, the bureau moved to weekly reporting for Covid-19 lawsuit and decease data. The bulk of states person stopped reporting trial positivity oregon person scaled down their investigating reports.

The bivalent Covid-19 booster vaccine that the Biden medication is promoting to Americans is designed to connection extortion against the archetypal Covid-19 strain and the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which present comprise the vast bulk of cases successful the country.

Of peculiar interest to Biden officials are BQ1 and BQ1.1, some subvariants of BA.5, which aboriginal studies bespeak whitethorn evade immoderate existing treatments for immunocompromised individuals.

The caller booster, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, is inactive being tested successful quality trials, and though aboriginal information look promising, a afloat representation of however it protects Americans against infection, transmission and hospitalization of the newer subvariants is not yet available.