By Karen S. Carter
Tuesday, January 4, 2022 2:44 pm
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Last week, COVID-19 cases started breaking numbers as the Omicron variant surged. New York state reported breaking their single daily high on Wednesday, December 29 with 67,000 new infections, and Michigan broke their record on Tuesday, December 28 with 12,929. Christmas Eve saw Washington's record broken with 6,140 daily cases.
Even though restrictions have eased, we are still in the middle of a pandemic. Deputy Health Officer for Pacific County Dr. Steven Krager posted a video on Youtube on December 23 discussing the newest variant that is well on its way to becoming the most dominant strain.
"First I want to acknowledge that everyone is tired. Tired of the pandemic. Tired of new variants. Tired of uncertainty," Krager said. "COVID-19 is tireless and unfortunately not done with us yet."
"So let's talk about Omicron," he continued. "Omicron is a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. So many variants have come and gone over time as the virus mutates and most recently nearly a hundred percent of the cases in the US and in Washington state were due to the Delta variant, but this is rapidly changing with Omicron. We are going to see a lot of Omicron cases in Washington in the next few weeks leading to really high COVID-19 rates. We know this because that is what's happening in other parts of the world where Omicron established itself earlier."
"So what else do we know? First let's talk about some good news," Krager said. "The vaccines are performing really well against preventing severe disease. Being fully vaccinated is providing protection from hospitalization and death and this protection is even better if you're boosted. Protection from any type of infection is still estimated to be up to 80% if you're boosted. One point on boosters I want to make. The early data we have now is that the Pfizer and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are working better against both Delta and Omicron both as an original vaccine and as a booster. If you had J&J first, I'd recommend you consider one of those vaccines for your booster."
According to Krager, another piece of good news is the effectiveness of the current COVID-19 tests. It doesn't matter what variant of COVID you are infected with, the tests still work.
More about Omicron
Omicron is up to three times more contagious than the Delta variant. "That is leading to rapid spread across the world including the United States and Washington," said Krager. "The University of Washington Virology Lab estimates that over 70% of the current samples they are testing are the Omicron variant, which means Omicron is the dominant variant and will remain that way for the time being."
Omicron surpasses past variants at causing reinfection. "This means if you've had COVID-19 in the past, even very recently, you may not be well protected against infection with the Omicron variant," stated Krager.
Omicron causes breakthrough cases at a higher rate. This means that even if you are vaccinated, if you are exposed to Omicron you have a higher chance of getting it. Krager noted that you are still well protected from severe disease, illness and hospitalization if you are vaccinated.
"We do not have a clear understanding of how much more severe disease Omicron causes, especially among people who have no immunity to COVID-19 at all," stated Krager. "There have been reports that suggest that omicron may cause milder disease in general, however we're very early [in the surge] and that is yet to be confirmed. Even if Omicron, on average, causes less severe disease that doesn't mean severe disease won't happen at all. So maybe instead of two out of a hundred people being hospitalized, it's one out of a hundred, but if ten times as many people get infected, that's still five times as many hospitalizations."
How to protect yourself and loved ones
The same precautions that have been taken for Delta applies to the Omicron variant. Krager suggested that you should get vaccinated, get tested, and wear a mask with multiple layers that fits. Open windows in crowded indoor spaces to promote air circulation or use air purifiers.
"Take extra care for the high-risk people in your life, so whether that's someone who's unvaccinated and high-risk or someone who is especially vulnerable," he said. "I just want us to be considerate about how our decisions impact them."
COVID-19 Stats Update December 29, 2021
The numbers keep changing on a daily basis.
Cases
New cases from 12/22 to 12/28: 39
New cases over the last 14 days: 66
Case rate per 100k over last 14 days: 360.4
Total cases since start of pandemic: 2,268
Hospitalizations
New hospitalizations over the last 7 days: 2
Total hospitalizations since start of pandemic: 127
Deaths
New Pacific County Deaths this week: 1
Total deaths since start of pandemic: 39
For an updated weekly list of vaccine clinics or to find COVID-19 testing sites visit www.pacificcountycovid19.com.