Medical professionals at Renown say COVID-19 cases are on the rise, with a new variant called FLRT stemming from the Omicron variant.
They say the Washoe County and the Reno area have seen a 25% rise in cases and the Carson area has seen a 35% increase.
While medical professionals are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, they say they're also seeing less than 1% of flu cases and less than 2% of RSV cases.
Marie McCormack, the Division Chief for Renown’s Primary Care, says many people may think COVID-19 is now gone or that if they can get one vaccine then they'll be protected from the virus for life. She says that's not true.
McCormack explains why she thinks we're seeing a rise in cases.
“People aren’t washing their hands like they used to, and they aren’t wearing masks while they travel," McCormack said. "I traveled through two different airports and I’m wearing a mask, I’m sanitizing my belt buckle, my arm rest, the tray table as much as I can, and I try not to touch anyone.”
She's recommending this year that everyone get a flu and COVID-19 vaccine.
“You should get a flu and a COVID vaccine because your natural immunity only last three months after you’ve had COVID, and so by the fall people like me who just had COVID are not going to have that natural immunity anymore.”
McCormack explains that COVID-19 is constantly changing its variants slowly. Since COVID-19 is a virus, it's adaptable to the environment it is exposed to, which is when it starts changing so that your immunity from the last variant will not help you against the new variant.
She says if you happen to have COVID-19, you should isolate and take time off of work.
“If you have a positive test, you really should isolate for at least five days or at least until you’re at least two days past when you had your last fever that you are not taking something to make the fever go away.”
McCormack also recommends if you want to prevent yourself from getting COVID-19, you should wash your hands more and wear a mask if you're around people you don't know. If you get sick, take a COVID-19 test.
She also says there is a medication for COVID-19 if you request it within the first 72 hours of having symptoms. It's meant to shorten your COVID-19 course, but it does not completely take the sickness away.
McCormack explains how you can recover.
“It’s all about taking care of yourself," she says. "Adequate sleep, plenty of fluids. If you’re not hungry you don’t have to eat, but you have to keep your fluids up because of the fevers and chills. You lose a lot of fluid, and you can become dehydrated and then it’s very hard on your kidneys.”
She predicts we're going to see COVID-19 cases for a while and she says we will see an influx in COVID-19 cases in the fall.
