LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County’s Public Health officer has issued an update on the COVID-19 situation, discussing variants that are making their way into the United States and available treatments.
In a Wednesday statement, Dr. Erik McLaughlin said state and local public health professionals are closely watching COVID-19 and doing their best to preserve the health and wellbeing of our communities.
“At this time, it is important to keep in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and is still changing from week to week, as new variants develop and more information is learned,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin pointed to a global increase in cases due to the spread of recently discovered variants such as BA.4 and BA.5, which are variants of Omicron.
“Once again, we are seeing concerning information coming out of South Africa where they are experiencing a 173% increase in cases and 20% of all COVID-19 tests administered are coming back positive,” McLaughlin said. “Sadly, hospitalizations have increased by 63% there. However, the number of those being hospitalized with severe illness remains much lower compared to previous surges, as do death rates.”
In the United States, there is a 49% increase in cases mostly from the BA.2.12.1 variant. McLaughlin said the newer variants of Omicron such as BA.4 and BA.5 are active in the U.S, but at lower levels.
“This will likely change in the next few weeks,” he said.
He said the Northeastern region of the nation continues to have the highest numbers of new cases. Puerto Rico has shown a 271% increase in cases over the last two weeks, with Puerto Rico seeing a 120% increase in hospitalizations.
In California, McLaughlin said there are 4,302 new cases and 14 deaths per day, with 3.1% of all COVID-19 tests administered having tested positive.
“Case counts are slowly increasing, along with hospitalizations and death rates. However, this is not nearly as severe as previous surges such as the Delta variant,” he said.
In Lake County, COVID-19 cases also are increasing slightly, McLaughlin said.
He said there is no significant increase in hospitalizations and there have been 10 new cases since last week, with 2.7% of all COVID-19 tests administered coming back positive.
As of Thursday, Lake County had a total of 137 deaths and 10,758 cases, according to the state’s COVD-19 dashboard.
As case rates rise nationally, McLaughlin said oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 are also increasingly available in Lake County by prescription from a health care provider.
McLaughlin said medications can reduce the chance of severe illness, hospitalization or death when taken soon after symptom onset. An oral five-day course of Paxlovid, for example, has been shown to reduce hospitalization risk by 89% in higher-risk individuals when initiated within five days of symptom onset.
Lake County Health Services is promoting awareness and access to potentially life-saving treatments for COVID-19 infections for residents who are at highest risk for severe outcomes.
While vaccination continues to provide the best protection against COVID-19, ensuring access to therapeutics to treat the virus can reduce the chance of severe illness, hospitalization or death, when taken soon after the onset of symptoms.
Lake County Health Services recommends that residents who are at higher risk for serious outcomes should have home test kits available and test promptly for any COVID-19 symptoms and if positive, reach out to their medical provider to discuss a possible prescription for oral antiviral medication.
Medical providers across the county are equipped to review with patients whether treatment is indicated and prescribe medication in one of several Lake County pharmacies that carry COVID-19 treatments.
Both testing and treatment are time-sensitive to be fully effective, McLaughlin said.
Public Health officer discusses latest COVID-19 developments
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