COVID-19 case rates continue to decline in Ingham County, even as officials watch for a possible surge of the omicron BA.2 subvariant.
Health Officer Linda Vail says nearly 96% of COVID patients in Ingham County have recovered since the start of 2022.
She says there’s been “a remarkable change” in hospitalization rates, with just 29 patients with confirmed or suspected cases.
Vail says that’s down from figures that once ranged above 200.
She says as officials watch trends of the omicron BA.2 subvariant in Europe, it’s not expected to have much impact in Michigan.
“We do see a plateauing right now,” Vail said. “We expect to see a slight increase; not very much of an increase, and we expect to see that taper back down in early May.”
Vail notes while most people have received their two regular vaccine doses, booster rates are considerably lower.
She agrees with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that anyone 50 and older should receive a second booster shot.
“I know a lot of people are trying to time it around different things like travel and stuff like that because there’s all this testing related to travel, and we do know as we’ve seen with the booster that we have now, that there’s waning efficacy,” she said.
Vail’s remarks on travel come a day after a federal judge in Florida overturned the CDC’s mask mandate for public transportation.
The highest COVID rates in the county are among people aged 20 to 29 years old, which make up one-quarter of all cases.
Vail says that total reflects lower vaccination rates within that demographic.
