COVID-19 cases on the rise in the Triad

A summertime rise in COVID-19 cases brought on by increased travel and extended time spent indoors has caught the attention of health care workers in the Piedmont Triad. 

On Tuesday, Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious disease expert at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, held an online press briefing to address the issue. 

He said his colleagues have noticed an uptick in cases across the health system’s six emergency departments. Despite this, Ohl said cases remain relatively low. 

“These numbers are up, here in our Triad, but they’re not up as high as they were last December or January, which was the height of our respiratory viral season,” Ohl said. “And actually in some areas here in the Triad, they seem to be declining now after reaching a peak about a week or two ago."

Studying wastewater

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’  COVID-19 dashboard, instances of the virus in Winston-Salem’s wastewater increased 100-fold in the last month. 

On June 19, the state reported one million viral gene copies per person in the city’s wastewater. A month later on July 24, that number sat at 104 million. 

To keep the area’s emergency departments as accessible as possible Ohl urged residents to test for COVID-19 at home or at an urgent care. He said residents should wash their hands frequently and wear masks in crowded spaces to reduce the risk of infection. 

While COVID-19 numbers have been on the rise in the last months Ohl said the severity of cases has remained low. 

Weaker strains

This is due to the most recent and widespread strains of the virus, like KP.3, KP.3.1.1 and KP. 2.3, being a descendant of the Omicron variant. Omicron spread quickly but presented lighter symptoms compared to other variants. 

The fact many people have already been vaccinated against the virus or been exposed to it, has also helped, Ohl said. 

“As the virus becomes more contagious as the variants change and shift, it does seem to be losing a bit of its oomph and ability to cause more severe disease,” Ohl said. “Between our immunity, a little bit of weakening of the virus, I think we’re seeing less severe cases.”

Newest vaccines

Older adults, young children and immunocompromised individuals remain at a heightened risk, however. For people that fit that demographic, Ohl recommended getting another booster vaccine. 

This fall, Triad residents can expect access to newly formulated boosters targeting the JN.1 and KP.2 variants from manufacturers like Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech. 

These vaccines will be effective against this summer’s most prevalent COVID-19 strains. 

Visit the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' COVID-19 response website to learn more about where to get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Santiago Ochoa covers healthcare for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. Follow him on X: @santi8a98