We thought it was over. We desperately wanted it to be over. We stopped wearing facemasks. We returned to crowded settings without caution. We didn’t see a need to get vaccinated. We let down our guard. But, it’s not over.
COVID-19 is very much with us and is spreading rapidly throughout our community. This coronavirus, however, is different than the one that brought waves of COVID-19 last year and early this year. It’s what viruses do—change.
Each time a virus replicates, with each new infection, there is an opportunity for it to change. Usually, these changes are insignificant. Sometimes, they alter the way the virus behaves. Such is the case with the variant of SARS-Cov2—the virus that causes COVID-19—that was first identified in India late last year. Now known as the Delta variant, it has found its way to Adams County.
Experience has shown the Delta variant to be more infectious than viruses causing influenza, the common cold, and chicken pox—more than twice as infectious as earlier variants causing COVID-19. People infected with the Delta variant carry 1000-times more virus in their nose and throats than those infected by the earlier Alpha variant. This summer, we have watched the rapid spread of COVID-19 due to the Delta variant throughout the South, especially in Florida, Texas, and Mississippi. Now, it’s in Ohio and Adams County.
As we are seeing in Adams County, the Delta variant spreads easier and faster throughout the community. It is not uncommon to see entire families stricken by COVID-19, something that was unusual during earlier waves of the infection. Perhaps most troubling, the Delta variant is infecting children and younger people at a much higher rate than earlier variants.
The COVID-19 surge is impacting our entire community. With the school year barely a week old, one of our high schools was forced to close due to the number of ill and exposed children. Youth athletic teams have been quarantined and games cancelled. Our hospital is struggling to find critical care beds at
regional hospitals to care for members of our community with heart attacks, strokes, and serious illness. Our nursing homes are once again restricting vital visitation for residents who likely devoted their lives caring for us.
The solution will require the efforts of the entire community as well. If we want our children in school, where every childhood expert agrees they need to be, we need to start wearing facemasks while indoors in public places. Facemasks should be as common as textbooks and pencils in our schools and be worn by children and teachers alike throughout the school day. Facemasks work. Not only was COVID-19 transmission in the classroom exceedingly rare last year when facemasks were required, influenza was almost nonexistent.
If we want hospital beds to be available to care for family and friends during difficult times or nursing homes that can allow the healing touch of visiting family, then we must get vaccinated. Over 200 million Americans have received a COVID-19 vaccination. Seldom has there been such experience with a medication. Medical experts overwhelmingly agree that these vaccines are not only safe, but they are also effective in reducing the risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
If you are older, have a chronic health problem, or are otherwise at increased risk for serious illness from COVID-19, consider doing your shopping or running errands during times of the day when stores are less crowded. Better yet, if you know such a person, go shopping for them. Together, we will help each other through these challenging days.
If you have questions about COVID-19, please call the Adams County Health Department at (937) 544-5547.
William E. Hablitzel, M.D. is the Adams County Health Commissioner. He can be reached at the Adams County Health Department, 923 Sunrise Avenue, West Union, Ohio, 45693
