COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the country even as the latest updated vaccine ships out, and a local health expert shares what she’s seeing in West Michigan now
“I think the main thing to know is that while it’s not as bad as it has been, it’s still not great.”
Dr. Gwendolyn Unzicker is the Medical Director of the Ottawa County Department of Public Health where COVID cases are following the national trend, edging up and expected to rise heading into the start of school. told by Fox17.
The way COVID levels are tracked has changed; it’s now monitored through wastewater detection.
“We have three specific testing sites we monitor closely and all three of those sites are actually seeing an increase over the last week.”
As experts debate over several possible reasons for the increasing rates nationwide, Unzicker says its important people realize it’s still a serious health concern.
“Some reports I recently heard there were still 5000 people hospitalized nationwide over the past week or so as well as a thousand that have died over the last week in this country from COVID-19.”
She recommends following the basics of disease prevention such as washing hands, staying home when sick, masking while in crowded areas, and keeping up to date on vaccines. report from the Washington Post.
“We’re hearing sometime in the next week or two hopefully is when we’ll start seeing those updated vaccines become available.”
