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Health officials expect more positive cases after Christmas, New Years


ODH Current Trends Dashboard. (via ODH).
ODH Current Trends Dashboard. (via ODH).
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DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) -- Coronavirus cases in Ohio continue rising and topping out at nearly 21,000 cases across this Christmas weekend.

Before Christmas, Ohio saw its two highest days of positive COVID-19 cases in the entire pandemic.

And with gatherings getting back into full swing:

“We know we’re going to see cases rise as a result of the holidays,” Dr. Zach Jenkins, Clinical Specialist of Infectious Diseases of Cedarville University said. “If what we know about omicron is to be believed, it should be spreading even faster than delta.”

Omicron also looks to cause weaker infections compared to delta, but delta is still around and is a leading cause of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Now, testing is playing a larger role in overall detections of cases with a demand for at-home testing and better access to PCR tests.

“You’re seeing people who may be a little more hesitant to get tested under normal circumstances seek these tests out under these cases,” Dr. Jenkins said. “Before, one of the problems is you always had to schedule some kind of clinic visit or you’d have to see your primary care provider.”

He says more people might be feeling COVID-like symptoms with the flu and other seasonal illnesses, which is leading to more testing amid this omicron surge.

“This is a different lineage of the virus than what we’ve seen with delta,” he said. “That means our antibodies we produce through previous infection or through immunization are less likely to actually recognize that new virus. So there will be more breakthrough infectious diseases we see in the community.”

Breakthrough infections with omicron’s transmissibility pose a higher risk for the immunocompromised, which makes testing positive and alerting people you’ve been around that much more important.

“I know that this has been difficult these last couple of years, and no one really likes to be told that they have to do something or else they lose some kind of freedom, but the only thing I’d encourage people to think about is if you are interacting with people,” he said. “If you do think you’re positive, get those rapid tests.”

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