New COVID-19 infections in New York State have risen each day since July 12, more than tripling in that time, with most due to the Delta Variant. Numbers are currently lower than we saw at the height of the pandemic, but local medical experts say this variant can cause more concerns than before. Saint Joseph’s Hospital Chief Medical Officer Doctor Philip Falcone is worried about the potential threat
“Everybody in healthcare has a healthy concern about this variant, it’s at least twice as transmissible as the original variant," said Falcone. "I think it’s contagious for a longer period of time so we’re seeing probably a worse threat than what we saw originally. The one good thing is we do have a significant number of our community vaccinated.”
The majority of those currently being hospitalized for the virus is unvaccinated individuals. Falcone says that there is plenty of hospital capacity here and that this area is not considered a hotspot. He adds these so-called hotspots are caused because of low vaccination rates and high positivity rates.
It’s only if we see the positivity rate go up that we should be more concerned and even consider practices such as wearing masks again. Falcone acknowledges many Central New Yorkers have returned to what some might consider normalcy.
“But, at the same time there are variants and when those variants become more prevalent and they become more transmissible, then again, it’s going to set back all that gain. So, I think we’re cautiously optimistic about this but I don’t think we can say we’re out of the woods yet,” said Falcone.
In order to stay safe and protected Falcone says the best thing you can do is get vaccinated, otherwise we will continue to see a progression of the disease.
