“The left wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fear mongering about the new variants that are coming,” said former President Donald Trump in a Wednesday video address. “Gee whiz, you know what else is coming? An election.”
With the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency in May came the end of most lingering COVID-19 mitigation mandates. However, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new risk assessment summary for a SARS-CoV-2 variant labeled BA.2.86 last Wednesday.
“Last week, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 called BA.2.86 was detected in samples from people in Denmark and Israel. At least two cases have been identified in the United States. This variant is notable because it has multiple genetic differences from previous versions of SARS-CoV-2,” said the release.
According to the CDC, existing tests used to detect and medications used to treat COVID-19 appear to be effective with this variant. Additionally, a forthcoming updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be effective against it.
So far, it seems like BA.2.86 is more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines, the centers explained. Data from the CDC COVID Tracker tool showed a recent increase in hospitalizations and deaths this week.
“At this point, there is no evidence that this variant is causing more severe illness. That assessment may change as additional scientific data are developed,” the CDC said.
In the risk assessment notice, the CDC outlined mitigation recommendations.
These included getting COVID vaccinations, staying home when sick, getting tested for COVID when sick, seeking treatment and washing hands. For those who choose to mask, the CDC recommended wearing a high-quality close-fitting mask.
In some areas, an increase in COVID-19 cases has already brought new mitigation measures. NPR reported Thursday that masking at some businesses, hospitals and schools and discussed this approach with Dr. Stephen Thomas of Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. Intelligencer also reported that COVID-19 cases are on the rise in New York City.
That outlet said “the late-summer surge in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths is so far more like an uptick than a wave, and those numbers remain low.”
“This is a trickle of new cases, not a flood, which is somewhat reassuring,” said a Tuesday article in The Atlantic. “But with COVID surveillance no longer a priority, the world’s labs are also sequencing about 1% of what they were two years ago, says Thomas Peacock, a virologist at the Pirbright Institute.”
Newsweek published a list Tuesday of places with current COVID restrictions – it consisted mostly of hospitals and workplaces, such as Lionsgate headquarters in Los Angeles, Calif. Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut revealed Wednesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
“It’s a reminder for us all that COVID is still out there. While my symptoms are mild, this remains a bad virus for people who are sick, elderly and/or immune compromised,” he said.
Those on the right wing have tended to be more critical of COVID-19 mitigations such as lockdowns, masking and vaccines. Last month, research published in the JAMA Network Open journal found that “personal political leanings may have contributed to excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic,” with more deaths reported in red states compared to blue states, said a press release from the University of Minnesota.
Trump indicated that concerns about BA.2.86 could lead to a return of height-of-the-pandemic measures.
“They want to restart the COVID hysteria so they can justify more lockdowns, more censorship, more illegal drop boxes, more mail-in ballots and trillions of dollars of payoffs to their political allies heading into the 2024 election,” he said, again referencing unfounded claims of fraud related to the 2020 election. “Does that sound familiar? These are bad people.”
Out of the four indictments Trump has faced so far this year, two have been linked to his claims of election fraud.
“To every COVID tyrant who wants to take away out freedom, hear these words,” said Trump. “We will not comply. So, don’t even think about it. We will not shut down our schools, we will not accept your lockdown, we will not abide by your mask mandates and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates.”
He also said that, if he is elected, he would work to cut federal funding to institutions who put mask or vaccine mandates in place. Trump is currently far in the lead as the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election, per polling data gathered by FiveThirtyEight.