Walton County has seen a dramatic percentage of increase in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19, the county's emergency management director told county commissioners Tuesday, with clusters of the virus being noted in the county jail and in long-term care facilities.
In response, Emergency Management Director Jeff Goldberg told the commission that county health and emergency management officials are stepping up COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts.
In recent weeks, Goldberg said, the county's COVID-19 "positivity rate went up from 5.6% to 30.4%."
According to data from the New York Times' ongoing tracking of coronavirus cases, collected from a variety of sources, the daily average number of COVID-19 cases has stood at 82 cases for the past several days, up from a daily average of 36 cases from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, and up from a daily average of 11 cases from Dec. 24 through Dec. 30.
Goldberg told commissioners the increased positivity rate is being seen in tandem with increased COVID-19 testing in the county. He added that the "acuity" of coronavirus infections — the severity of symptoms of the disease — appears to be less under the current omicron variant of COVID-19 than with the previous wave of the delta variant of the virus.
Still, Goldberg added that health officials are seeing that the omicron variant, while apparently less severe than the delta variant, is "much more contagious than delta was."
But, he added that "as a whole, it (the omicron variant) hasn't been as serious to those that have been vaccinated," although he noted that the latest coronavirus variant "is still rough when people do get it."
'The vaccines do work'
Also according to Goldberg, an average of just one to two COVID-19 patients per day in the county's two hospitals — Ascension Sacred Heart on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach and Healthmark Regional Medical Center in DeFuniak Springs — are having to be kept on ventilators as part of their coronavirus treatment.
The vaccination status of the COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Walton County wasn't noted in Goldberg's verbal report, but he did tell commissioners that, according to information from state health officials and other sources, "anybody that's been on a vent with this new variant is unvaccinated."
"So the vaccines do work," Goldberg told commissioners. "They're not necessarily going to prevent it (COVID-19), but they are going to lessen the acuity level, particularly for those folks who have comorbidities." Comorbidities are one or more diseases that are simultaneously present in patients with the coronavirus.
In response, Emergency Management Director Jeff Goldberg told the commission that county health and emergency management officials are stepping up COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts.
In recent weeks, Goldberg said, the county's COVID-19 "positivity rate went up from 5.6% to 30.4%."
According to data from the New York Times' ongoing tracking of coronavirus cases, collected from a variety of sources, the daily average number of COVID-19 cases has stood at 82 cases for the past several days, up from a daily average of 36 cases from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, and up from a daily average of 11 cases from Dec. 24 through Dec. 30.
Goldberg told commissioners the increased positivity rate is being seen in tandem with increased COVID-19 testing in the county. He added that the "acuity" of coronavirus infections — the severity of symptoms of the disease — appears to be less under the current omicron variant of COVID-19 than with the previous wave of the delta variant of the virus.
Still, Goldberg added that health officials are seeing that the omicron variant, while apparently less severe than the delta variant, is "much more contagious than delta was."
But, he added that "as a whole, it (the omicron variant) hasn't been as serious to those that have been vaccinated," although he noted that the latest coronavirus variant "is still rough when people do get it."
'The vaccines do work'
Also according to Goldberg, an average of just one to two COVID-19 patients per day in the county's two hospitals — Ascension Sacred Heart on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach and Healthmark Regional Medical Center in DeFuniak Springs — are having to be kept on ventilators as part of their coronavirus treatment.
The vaccination status of the COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Walton County wasn't noted in Goldberg's verbal report, but he did tell commissioners that, according to information from state health officials and other sources, "anybody that's been on a vent with this new variant is unvaccinated."
"So the vaccines do work," Goldberg told commissioners. "They're not necessarily going to prevent it (COVID-19), but they are going to lessen the acuity level, particularly for those folks who have comorbidities." Comorbidities are one or more diseases that are simultaneously present in patients with the coronavirus.
