More than 170,000 coronavirus cases were reported by the Department of Health in January. But experts say that number could be significantly higher as many patients used an at-home test, were asymptomatic, or chose not to seek testing which was in record demand. State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers says reports of high numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths could continue through the coming weeks, but says the epidemiological curve is beginning to map a decline in cases.
“It’s been pretty staggering,” says Dr. Byers. “When you think about the number of cases that we had in January, it has far outpaced any other previous month. I mean we still have a long way to go with omicron, but we are starting to see it loosen up and I think we’re looking at some downward trends.”
While these cases are beginning to trend downward from the current omicron surge, Dr. Byers confirmed that one case of the omicron BA.2 variant has been identified in the state. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says this variant seems to behave similarly to the primary omicron variant known as BA.1, and has become the primary strain in some European countries.
Dr. Dobbs says “If you’ve had omicron already, you’re probably not going to get BA.2. There’s no reason to think that the vaccine is not going to provide the same amount of protection, and the booster’s still important. There is a small concern that sotrovimab might not work as well against BA.2 as BA.1. We’re still waiting to see what that means.”
Sotrovimab is one of the few monoclonal antibody treatments that have remained effective against the omicron variant.
.jpg)
