BUFFALO, N.Y. — The latest rise in cases of COVID-19 is causing changes for many communities, including Erie County. Because of what it calls a “substantial volume of cases,” the county's department of health no longer has the capacity to individually contact every resident with a positive test result.
Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said this should not be a major cause for concern.
"It's important for people to realize that once you test positive, even if the health department had adequate resources, there's still a lag in time before they contact you and instruct you what to do," Russo said.
The county is asking people who have positive results from a lab, pharmacy, medical office or at-home test to self-isolate from others in their household and notify close contacts. Anyone exposed to someone who tests positive is asked to self-quarantine and get tested themselves. The county has on any given day between 20-25 case investigators/contact tracers, with 50-55 trained and available for this purpose.
"Therefore, if everyone is educated on what to do and to isolate as soon as possible, that could be extraordinarily effective in breaking the transmission chain and potentially even more effective than waiting for the public health department to reach out to you," Russo said.
The health department will still contact those who've had a positive test through an Erie County Department of Health site. They will also continue case investigations for children and schools.
Russo is hopeful the latest wave will come down quickly, but given people got together over the holidays, there could still be a rise in cases in the short term.
"It's critical that people be aware that omicron is not equivalent to a wimpy common cold virus,” Russo said. “It still has the capability of causing severe disease and bad outcomes.”
Russo said you should isolate yourself if you're sick, wear high-quality masks and get vaccinated and boosted.
