Here are six updates on COVID-19 as cases increase nationwide:
1. Patients with autoimmune rheumatoid disease who have more antibodies specific to the common cold may be more likely to develop long COVID-19, according to new research published in Science Translational Medicine.
2. Here are nine hospitals and health systems that have updated their mask policies.
3. New forecasting from life science analytics company Airfinity suggests U.S. hospitalizations from COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus will peak at the end of January. The modeling predicts there will be around 57,000 weekly admissions at that time, compared to last year's winter peak of around 80,000.
4. Amid a late-summer increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the next booster shot targeting XBB.1.5 might be available as early as Sept. 13. Here are three things to know about the latest vaccine.
5. New lab data suggests COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 — a distant omicron relative that has been making headlines over the past few weeks because of its large number of mutations — may not be as transmissible or immune-evasive as experts initially believed.
6. The CDC updated its risk assessment on distant omicron relative BA.2.86, saying the strain — which has concerned experts over the large number of mutations it carries — has been detected in at least four states.