Local COVID-19 cases are up, but worries are low

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — COVID-19 cases are back up again locally, with classes at schools and universities in full swing and the holiday season fast approaching.

Just a few years ago, that statement would’ve caused many to worry. This year, coronavirus seems to be grouped again with other common respiratory viruses, like the flu and RSV.

MORE:Wegmans offering vaccines for this year’s flu season

However, the number of people who react to positive tests has changed.

According to acting Monroe County Public Health Commissioner Dr. Marielena Vélez De Brown, COVID-19 is starting to act more like typical respiratory infections.

“About 98% of the U.S. population has either received one or more doses of COVID vaccine, or they’ve had COVID itself of both,” she explained.

Now that there is an increase in general population immunity against COVID, it means a change in guidelines for when we can resume normal activities or go back to work.

“First, your symptoms are generally getting better, perhaps not all of them. Sometimes a cough can linger, but the general constellation of symptoms are improving and a person is fever-free for at least 24 hours without having taken medication,” Vélez De Brown said. “It’s better to be able to just follow your own symptoms as opposed to having to wait to test negative, which can take some amount of time, even beyond when someone might be infectious.”

However, guidelines remain the same for high-risk individuals. Dr. Edward Walsh is a professor of Medicine at URMC.

“What we’ve seen in the hospitalization, we have seen an increased number, but again, proportionally to what we’ve seen in the past, markedly less,” said Dr. Edward Walsh, a professor of medicine at URMC. “Most of the admissions in an emergency room visits or urgent care visits, most are in people who are greater risk for a more severe disease.”

Walsh said a new vaccine was just released two weeks ago, and it’s best against this year’s COVID strains.

MORE:FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines, shots should be available in days

The federal government is once again giving away free COVID test kits, starting at the end of September.

CLICK HERE for information on the CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines.

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