Since COVID can't quit us, here's your refresher on pandemic-era terms

COVID-19 cases in L.A. County that have been steadily climbing this summer are seeing the first possible sign of reprieve, with about 420 cases as of Aug. 21, after reaching a high of some 480 cases last week.

The summer surge is thanks to the latest mutation known as KP.3.1.1, which is part of a family of variants nicknamed FLiRT.

"It kind of came out of the blue," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco. "KP. 3.1.1, which kind of came in mid-summer, kept the fires burning essentially with COVID."

The FLiRT variants

According to the latest figures from the CDC, KP.3.1.1 accounted for close to 37% — the majority — of all COVID infections in the first three weeks of August.

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But the latest L.A. County numbers are adding to recent evidence of abatement.

"In the West Coast, Region 9, including California and Hawaii, test positivity is already starting to go down, even though we're still very high in terms of wastewater," Chin-Hong said.

New vaccines expected to drop

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated vaccines to tackle these strains, including a FLiRT variant. Pharmacies and doctors are expected to receive these new COVID shots soon.

More importantly, despite the punch these new strains are delivering, we are not close to how things were at the height of the pandemic.

"Every year, even though we have so much virus going on in the community causing a lot of disruptions, the hospital curve is going down," said Chin-Hong.

But almost five years into the disease, Chin-Hong said we should be seeing even fewer hospitalizations — if any at all.

"If [people] took advantage of all the tools, they wouldn't be there," he said, be it a vaccine, or Paxlovid, or early antivirals.

Because while this summer is bad, the doctor expects things to get hairier this winter.

A COVID refresher course

While no one is expecting a redux of 2020, we have dusted up the old glossary of COVID terms from the era to help us keep staying safe and healthy top of mind.

• Asymptomatic: A person infected with the virus but showing no symptoms of disease. According to a study funded by the National Institute of Health, at least 20% of people infected with COVID are asymptomatic
  
• Contact tracing: The identification, monitoring, and management of people who have been exposed to the disease in order to stop further transmission. In 2022, the CDC ended its recommendation for COVID-19 contact chasing given mounting cases were making these efforts infeasible. L.A. County later began to dial down on that strategy
  
• Flatten the curve: The mantra and rallying cry of the pandemic era, visualized by a graph showing how actions like quarantine and social distancing could help slow the spread of the disease and keep our healthcare system from being overtaxed
  
• Quarantine: Separating people who may be infected with COVID-19 or those who have been in close contact with an infected person away from others. Unsurprisingly, Netflix had a banner 2020, gaining more than 36 million subscribers
  
• Shelter in place: Basically, stay at home. In March 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a shelter-in-place order affecting about 40 million Californians, becoming the first state in the nation to do so
  
• Social distancing: The practice of maintaining physical distance between you and those who are not part of your household. The CDC recommends keeping at least 6 feet apart
  
• Superspreader: Someone with COVID who disproportionately infects a large number of people by being in contact with more people, or by being more infectious due to having a higher viral load. Superspreader events are social gatherings that lead to an outbreak of infections