ODH chief medical officer: COVID variant makes take precautions all the more important
Although the virus variant isn’t here, yet, health officials say we can keep it from spreading to others.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff of the Ohio Department of Health provided new information related to the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant, during a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday with Governor Mike DeWine.
“Although virus variations are normal, and most do not impact the behavior of a virus, this variation is notable because it appears to be more contagious than other variants of the coronavirus,” said Dr. Vanderhoff. “Fortunately, this variant doesn’t appear to be more severe or to impact those who are already immune, but it worries us because a more contagious variant could lead to more people getting sick, more people being hospitalized, and more people dying.”
Ohio currently has three times the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations that it had on November 1st, and nearly seven times the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations that it had on October 1st.
Dr. Vanderhoff stressed the importance of continuing to follow the basic COVID-19 protocols of physical distancing, avoiding crowds, washing hands, wearing masks and accepting the vaccine when available to prevent the spread of all variants of the virus, and to prevent further increases in hospitalizations.
