COVID-19 is still not going away, but the vaccines are changing along with the newest strains. WNIN’s Tim Jagielo spoke with both the Green River District Health Department and Vanderburgh County Health Department about the current status of COVID-19 in the region.
“(When) Green River District reported cases, total cases for the month of August, we saw a significant increase and over 500-percent increase from the previous month where we reported 1,203 cases, and six deaths. So the deaths continue throughout the pandemic as well.”
That was Merritt-Bates Thomas, Green River District public information officer and health education director. Her district covers seven counties in Eastern Kentucky. She said such an uptick can be from new subvariants coming through just like when flu season starts.
Lynn Herr is Director of Clinical and Outreach Divisions at the Vanderburgh County Health Department. She says the VCHD doesn’t track COVID in quite the same way as Green River but it’s still on their minds as the virus runs its course.
“It's always on our radar as public health officials. I mean, this is still morbidity and mortality that impacts our communities.”
Bates-Thomas and Herr also said that these numbers are of course, the ones who were reported to the hospitals. Some folks with COVID are still asymptomatic.
“… So those that don't present with any symptoms at all, but still are able to spread the disease and likely then, you know, others that develop the symptoms,” Bates-Thomas said.
“Eris” or EG-5 was the most commonly circulating subvariant and “Pirola” or BA.2.86 is the most current. Both are omicron subvariants.
Many of the same “classical” symptoms still apply, said Herr.
“… That stuffy nose that sometimes starts out with a dry cough that goes to a more wet cough. And anytime there's shortness of breath, or there is an overwhelming sense of not feeling well, you need to get a hold of your provider.”
— and make sure you still have test kits ready if you’re suspicious of a sudden illness. But she said lately, some stores have been sold out of them.
“So that's telling us that there's a lot more people that are concerned that they have COVID and are doing home tests.”
Herr said they’re not sure what the cold and flu season will bring, regarding COVID-19.
“I wish we could predict — it will make the lives of all public health officials a lot easier if we could predict. I think a lot of it is going to be how much people really practice when they're sick, stay home, wash your hands frequently.
And those being mindful of the spread of disease is going to tell us what things are going to look like and and unfortunately our most vulnerable — those that are immunocompromised — are always going to be at risk. And those are those individuals that we need to watch out for.”
Said Bates-Thomas, “it doesn't have to dictate our lives might be the way it did during the pandemic, but just that general awareness, staying up to date on our booster shots, or getting that initial COVID vaccine is so so important to help us be more resistant to whatever the new variants are. There can be immunity from previous cases, if you've had COVID. And then there's the built up immunity from having the vaccines in your system as well. The key thing is just staying up to date.”
Current side effects from the vaccines include pain, swelling and redness on the arm where the shot was given, tiredness, headache, muscle or joint pain, chills and swollen lymph nodes. COVID vaccines are still free to receive.
Of course masking is still recommended if you’re feeling ill. Basically according to the heath departments, it’s up to the public now.
“I just don't think you're gonna see those mandates again,” Herr said. “I think this has turned into more of an epidemic that's going to be like the flu and strep, and all those things that we deal with every fall. And so we're going to be individual responsibilities, especially taking into consideration the elderly and the very young.”
The Vanderburgh County Health Department
The Green River District Health Department
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