COVID-19 update- Using Community Levels to guide prevention

About Variants: 

Viruses constantly change through mutation and sometimes these mutations result in a new variant of the virus. Some variants emerge and disappear while others persist. New variants will continue to emerge. CDC and other public health organizations monitor all variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 in the United States and globally.

Scientists monitor all variants but may classify certain ones as  variants being monitored, variants of interest, variants of concern and variants of high consequence. Some variants spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19.

These classifications are based on how easily the variant spreads, how severe the symptoms are, how the variant responds to treatments, and how well vaccines protect against the variant.

Omicron – B.1.1.529

First identified: South Africa

Spread: May spread more easily than other variants, including Delta.

Severe illness and death: Due to the small number of cases, the current severity of illness and death associated with this variant is unclear.

Delta – B.1.617.2

First identified: India

Spread: Spreads more easily than other variants.

Severe illness and death: May cause more severe cases than the other variants

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Testing, testing, testing

Testing helps us identify cases, trace contacts, and prevent spread. With fewer cases, public health professionals can find contacts easier and sooner. Stopping spread will make the variant viruses less of a threat.

So please don’t stop seeking testing if you have symptoms; it is still important to know how many cases of COVID-19 there are. If we only know about the severe cases that required hospitalization, it will skew the statistics, and be less representative of the true extent of the pandemic.

VACCINES.GOV

Information and misinformation

There has been much of both in the past year, some deliberate, some well intentioned, some valuable, some just plain wrong. Whenever possible, get your information directly from the source, not “a friend of a friend’s second cousin”. Here are some tips for finding reliable information

exploring the HEART of ending the pandemic

Please do your friends a favor by sharing this post on social media and even in real conversations. I don’t know when or even if I will do a final COVID-19 update. The SARS-CoV-2 virus may go away eventually, but another may sooner or later take its place. We will need to be vigilant.