“Nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room.”
Chantelle Harris is the owner of Chani's Donuts in Kearny Mesa.
“My son has had chronic cough since October so for him, I’m like — you’ve got to go to the doctor. You’ve got to take care of this," Harris said.
She’s noticed a trend of respiratory illnesses affecting her family and some of her customers. So now, she’s taking every precaution.
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“Once they leave, we sanitize, everything," she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the latest variant now makes 62% of COVID cases nationwide. In San Diego, wastewater surveillance data shows the number of COVID cases more than doubled just in the last month.
A UCSD medical officer weighs in
Local
Christopher Longhurst, Chief Medical Officer for UC San Diego, said that while the JN.1 variant is more contagious than other strains, it’s also less severe.
“We know that wastewater has gone up steeply, in fact — the biggest increase since the Omicron surge of a couple of years ago.”
“We have over 50 patients in our hospital today with COVID, but the majority of them are actually secondary. In fact, they’ve been admitted for pregnant moms, or for trauma, or for other health reasons, so it’s not the cause of admission in most cases.”
Travelers at SAN
At the San Diego International Airport, many travelers are taking measures to stay healthy.
John Barank and his wife were sending off their kids to college. He said they are also taking measures to avoid getting sick.
“Just trying to not be in larger groups, and besides that, we must go and do our normal activities, so we’re not taking any extra precautions,” Barank said.
