COVID-19 numbers are on the rise, with North Carolina experiencing the highest levels of wastewater particles and hospitalizations since the rise of the Omicron variant last winter. The bivalent vaccine, however, offers protection against new COVID variants and helps curb cases — with health experts reminding North Carolinians that it’s still possible to get the shot.

64,932 total coronavirus cases were reported in North Carolina since December 18, compared to 49,341 total cases over the previous four weeks.

UNC infectious disease specialist Dr. David Wohl said the latest COVID surge is placing stress on hospital systems, clinics and workplaces.

“This is a big deal, but not unanticipated,” Wohl said. “This has been very well-predicted: cold weather, gatherings, holidays, runny noses and touching doorknobs … all those things are operative right now.”

According to Wohl, COVID levels are not as severe as last year, a testament to the efficacy of vaccinations. 

He said COVID, like any virus, is evolving to become more “efficient.”

“What we’ve seen, as we build up more immunity but as we continue to spread the virus, it has opportunities to mutate, and mutate so that it pays forward to the winter,” said Wohl. “So, if you have a faster greyhound, it’s going to have puppies that are just as fast as it and its mate, and you’re going to select for faster and faster puppies.”

Wohl says this means COVID variants are becoming easier to catch — such as the virus being infectious at shorter transmission distances or with less amount of viral load.

Wohl noted although COVID symptoms are shifting, this doesn’t mean cases will become more lethal.

“It really is starting to coalesce more and more towards what we see typically with flu,” Wohl said. “These are becoming a constellation of viruses that are less and less distinguishable, so it’s very hard to tell them apart clinically now that we don’t see as much of ‘I lost my sense of smell,’ or ‘I lost my taste.’”

Wohl said a major differentiation between this virus and other illnesses is “long COVID,” which can include brain fog, long-term exhaustion and ongoing respiratory symptoms.

He emphasized the importance of getting a bivalent COVID vaccine, which offers cross-protection against new COVID variants XBB and XBB 1.5. 

“If you have not had the bivalent vaccine and have not had a COVID infection since December, then I don’t understand why,” Wohl said. “There’s not a very good reason not to get the bivalent vaccine and a long list of good reasons to get it.”

To limit the ongoing spread of the virus and confirm whether people have the illness, Wohl encourages people to purchase at-home COVID tests. 

“When I get together with others in small gatherings at my house, we test on the porch. It takes 15 minutes, and then everyone’s inside and I feel a level of security and safety that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” Wohl said.  “Just be smart, be prudent, try not to catch COVID, do what you can to your ability, get the vaccine and I think that’s the best you can do right now.”

 

Photo via AP Photo/Sean Rayford.


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