Health official offers guidance among high COVID-19 case numbers

 

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – New COVID-19 data from the St. Joseph County Health Department ranks the region as highly transmissible for new cases.

There are currently almost 900 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, and the Deputy Health Officer, Dr. Mark Fox, said cases are higher now than they were the past two summers.

But those are just the reported cases. Fox estimated the actual number of cases to be much higher—possibly three to five times higher than the reported number of cases.

“While our cases are higher than they’ve been in either of the two previous summers, our mitigations strategies are lower than they’ve been at the same point,” Fox said. “No masks in schools, very few masks in public spaces.”

He recommended anyone who is high-risk to continue wearing the strongest mask possible—preferably an N95 mask—when indoors.

Also, he could not emphasize enough the importance of vaccinations to lower the community transmission rate of the coronavirus.

According to the health department’s COVID-19 data hub, St. Joseph County’s vaccination rate is just under 58 percent—and that only accounts for the primary vaccination series, not booster shots.

While the current approved vaccines have not been effective at stopping Omicron and its subvariants, a new booster is on its way.

“Each year the flu shot is adapted,” Fox said. “The new booster that will become available really tries to account for the variants that are most active in the community.”

Fox said the new booster can arrive in the United States as early as next month, but maybe not until October. However, there is no indication when the shot will be available to the public just yet.

While Fox still encourages masking, he said he understands the apathy and fatigue towards the practice. He suggested being aware at all times of the quality of ventilation, and to keep gatherings outdoors as much as possible. Of course, this will become harder as fall approaches.

Although Omicron and its subvariants are typically mild cases of COVID-19, Fox said they should not be brushed off as “just a cold.”

He said the more often one contracts the coronavirus, the more likely they are to suffer long-term COVID symptoms, or Long COVID. About 20 to 30 percent, he said, of those who catch the virus will have long-term symptoms over months.

So, while the illness may be mild, there are still so many unknowns as to the long-term effects of the virus.