‘Tripledemic’ viruses hit hard during holidays, survey says

Nearly 40% of Americans surveyed said the so-called tripledemic had an impact on their household over the past month or so, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation.

The triple whammy of influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus hit about 4 out of 10 households over the winter holidays, according to the foundation’s latest vaccine monitor dashboard. Additionally, 20% of adults in sick households reported difficulties getting over-the-counter medicines such as Tylenol or cough syrup. The cold medicine shortage has been prevalent in Hawaii.

Many retailers here are displaying signs on near-empty shelves asking customers to limit their purchases as they wait for suppliers to replenish products, especially those offering pain and fever relief for children. This is despite state Department of Health statistics showing influenza-like illnesses and COVID-19 are abating in Hawaii.

The department on Wednesday reported the daily average of new COVID- 19 cases at 100, down from 109 reported Feb. 1. The state’s average positivity rate ticked up to 5.0% compared with 4.7% the previous week.

The Jan. 31 wastewater report noted that Honolulu and Maui counties were observing an increasing trend in raw sewage concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 while Kauai and Hawaii counties were decreasing and unchanged, respectively. The data reflected samples collected from November to Jan. 10.

The wastewater findings did not, however, play out in clinical statistics this week, which reported declines in average daily cases in Honolulu and Maui counties to 70 per day and nine per day, respectively.

Massachusetts-based Biobot Analytics, meanwhile, announced Wednesday it will continue to test and analyze wastewater for COVID- 19 and mpox in more than 400 locations across the U.S. in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC has extended its contract with Biobot for the National Wastewater Surveillance System, which includes the collection and analysis of samples from 15 waste­water treatment plants in Hawaii, through the end of July.

Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients also remained steady, with an average of 55 per day reported over the past week compared with 57 per day the previous week.

Nationwide, the uptake of the bivalent booster, meanwhile, remains modest, with about 28% surveyed saying they already got it in January, up from 22% in December, according to Kaiser Family Foundation.

In Hawaii, 25.3% of the state’s eligible population, or 282,199 residents, have gotten the bivalent booster. And vaccination rates have taken a dive, with only 17,592 doses administered in January — the lowest monthly total.

Many public COVID-19 testing operations in Hawaii, meanwhile, are winding down, with officials recommending people use home test kits instead.

Honolulu County closed its mobile test lab at the airport in late December. Kauai County is closing its testing center at Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall and mobile sites, which offer free PCR tests, at the end of the month, then giving away 7,500 home test kits in March.

Kaiser Permanente said due to decreased demand, its Ahua Street testing site in Mapunapuna will end operations Feb. 20.

Starting Feb. 21, Kaiser members on Oahu can get COVID-19 tests at the Honolulu and Waipio medical offices by appointment only, during weekdays.

Results from home test kits are not accounted for in state Health Department statistics, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is encouraging Americans to voluntarily report their results — whether negative or positive — at makemytestcount.org, developed in partnership with the National Institutes of Health.

The FDA says the information can be reported anonymously by an individual for themselves or a family member to help public health departments monitor how quickly the virus is spreading.

The state Health Department also reported eight more deaths, bringing Hawaii’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,805.