COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in Georgia in August, coinciding with the emergence of the highly transmissible EG.5 “Eris” variant. Oglethorpe County has been no exception to that trend.
The county reported 11 positive cases from Aug. 9-23, compared to only five in the previous two-week period, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The uptick especially has been noticed in the schools.
“We definitely saw our absences up last week,” said Kristina Turner, district nurse for the Oglethorpe County School System. “We had a lot of phone calls about kids that were either having COVID symptoms or had COVID.”
Turner said the number of absences has started to decrease since last week, potentially signifying that the surge is beginning to ease in Oglethorpe County.
According to the Georgia DPH, there were 8,184 reported cases in the two-week period in the state before Aug. 23. This was nearly double the amount of confirmed cases (4,307) reported in the previous two-week period.
The DPH attributes the recent surge to a few factors:
- The EG.5 variant.
- Summer travel and gatherings.
- Waning immunity from vaccination and prior infection.
- Decreased prioritization of prevention measures.
Despite the increase in cases, “numbers remain relatively low, compared to the state’s peak in January 2022 or even summer COVID increases in previous years,” according to a Georgia DPH press release.
The EG.5 variant is the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S., and is responsible for 16% of new cases in Georgia and 17% of new cases in the U.S.
“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” according to a World Health Organization Risk Evaluation.
So, while the variant’s transmissibility rate seems to be high, it doesn’t appear to be more severe than previous variants.
Symptoms of COVID-19, including the “Eris” strain, may include fever, cough, fatigue and sore throat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vaccination is still considered the best protection against COVID-19, and will help prevent serious complications and hospitalization, according to the Georgia DPH. The CDC states that the current COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the EG.5 variant.