State Department of Health Services Closely Watching COVID Mutation

Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 -- 1:01 PM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) The Department of Health Services is keeping a close eye on a new mutation of COVID-19.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard says the new form of the Omicron variant hasn't shown any significant changes in the symptoms it causes, nor in its transmissibility.

"Our expectation or our hope is that we see more of the same, which is declining, day by day, week by week, from this really extraordinarily high peak that we saw from omicron." Dr. Westergaard continued, "So they're very closely related and seem to be behaving the same way."

Dr. Westergaard says it remains to be seen if cases of COVID will continue to trend downward. "Whether the new variation, if it takes hold, will cause that decline to occur more slowly is something that's been theorized. But we won't know until we observe it."

Wisconsin's hospitalization rates continue to trend downwards as more people either recover from COVID or are moved to long term care facilities thanks to an influx of new health care workers.

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