Doctor explains possible cause of surge in COVID-19 positivity rates
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of COVID-19 deaths has dropped significantly in the last few months.
However, despite vaccination efforts and natural immunity, patients are still testing positive for the virus, and infections across the country are surging again.
News 8 spoke with Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, who explains what might be causing the uptick in positivity rates.
“There’s the emergence of different variants and sort of the timing of that,”. “How well they evade the existing immunity that’s out there? But then there’s also the factor of when does immunity start to wane and therefore vulnerability pops back up,” Doehring said.
Doehring also says health officials are hopeful the coronavirus becomes a seasonal phenomenon. But for the time being, there’s still so much unpredictability at play. Scientists can only give their best guess as to when we’ll see the next resurgence.
Doehring goes on to say the most important thing a person can do if they have symptoms that are consistent with COVID is to stay home, get testing and try to avoid spreading it to others.