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One hundred and fifty Cherokee County residents tested positive for COVID-19 over just six days earlier this week.
The Cherokee County Health Department reported 171 active cases of the virus Monday, more than tripling the 55 active cases announced by the department on Dec. 28.
Health Director David Badger sees the spike as the local beginnings of a wave fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, which already has been hammering other parts of the state and nation with record-setting case numbers. Unlike past variants, however, Badger is hopeful the data on hospitalizations and deaths will ultimately tell a better story this time around.
“We’re, frankly, a little bit behind the curve (in Cherokee County),” Badger said. “I still think we’ll start seeing our (case numbers) ramp up more in the coming weeks.
“Probably the bigger takeaway, and what people probably should be focusing on more than daily case counts, is hospitalizations and severe illnesses. So far ... I’m talking about statewide data or nationwide data, hospitalizations are increasing, but not as steeply as what we saw with Delta.”
The N.C. Department of Health & Human Services reported a 27.4 percent daily positive rate Monday – the highest since the beginning of the pandemic – and nearly 13,000 new COVID-19 cases. There were 2,722 patients hospitalized statewide with COVID-19, but that number stood at 3,590 at this time last year.
Hospitalizations and deaths typically lag behind new cases of COVID-19 by about two weeks. However, in South Africa, where the new variant was first detected, the country’s Omicron surge passed without a significant spike in deaths.
An analysis of about 161,000 cases of the virus in South Africa from October to early December suggested that Omicron was 80 percent less likely to cause hospitalization than the Delta variant and 30 percent less likely to cause severe illness in those hospitalized.
Public health officials have indicated that Omicron appears to cause less damage to the lungs than previous COVID-19 variants. Common symptoms of Omicron include a cough, headache, sore throat and runny nose – without the loss of taste or smell that was once a tell-tale sign of the virus.
“I think the studies, while limited, are showing that it certainly is much more infectious and tends to transmit more easily than prior variants,” Badger said.
“Symptoms are somewhat milder, and we would anticipate more breakthrough cases in people who are vaccinated, especially if they are considered ‘fully vaccinated’ (with two doses) but not boosted. The effectiveness of the vaccine is not as great without that booster shot.”
Badger said it is impossible to guess the amount of Omicron cases in Cherokee County versus those being caused by the deadlier Delta variant. Those numbers can only be estimated when larger labs genomically sequence specimens in an area. One thing is for certain – Omicron’s increased transmissibility means it is only a matter of time before it surpasses Delta as the dominant variant no matter where you are.
“We don’t know if it’s five percent or 100 percent here,” Badger said. “We might be behind a little bit, but at some point it’s going to be the predominant variant within a population.”
He encourages county residents to maintain a common sense approach when it comes to staying healthy this winter. That regimen includes getting tested when experiencing symptoms, wearing a mask, washing hands regularly and social distancing.
“Be aware of symptoms and test yourself,” Badger said. “Don’t go over to your grandmother’s house or your friend’s house not knowing what you have. I think simple stuff like that can prevent a lot of infections as much as anything.”