Doctor: Indiana officially in 4th wave of COVID-19
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For weeks, coronavirus cases and deaths have been on the steep decline, but now there are more infections and hospitalizations in states across the country. Indiana is one of those states.
Dr. Amy Beth Kressel, infectious disease specialist at Eskenazi Health, is linking the increased positivity rates to the growing number of virus mutations.
“The virus is mutating and there are more variants out there that could potentially escape vaccines,” Kressel told News 8. “So, the more the virus can spread before people get the vaccine the more opportunities it has to improve itself. The virus is an RNA virus. It’s constantly evolving and finding different versions of itself that can infect people more efficiently.”
Kressl points to the U.K. variant specifically. The mutation is sweeping the country and has become the most dominant COVID-19 cousin in the U.S. to date. People who get this variant tend to be sicker. It also transmits from person to person more quickly.
She urges Hoosiers to get vaccinated, avoid indoor dining, stay away from crowds outside of one’s inner circle and continue masking even after the mandate becomes an advisory on April 6.
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